YuGiOh! R: The untold story of the anime
by Sanokal
Summary: The prequel/continuity/contanier of my Yu-Gi-Oh! R: Yugi vs Yakou fic. Except Yakou's now Yako, Gekkou's now Gekko and Cyntiha's now Cecelia. The showdown of the Egyptian Gods and the Wicked Gods, as Yugi tries to rescue Tea from Project R.A. R&R!
1. A Wicked Shadow!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Hello, to any and all that happen to be reading this. I was so pleased with my depiction of the final duel between Yugi and Yako, if it had happened in the anime that I decided to go for broke and do the entire R storyline! Of course, I'll change some factors – for example, this is before Waking the Dragons, so to everyone else, even his servants, the status of Maximillion Pegasus following his attack is unknown.**

**As a result, to bring him out of hiding, Yako Tenma has harnessed the powers of the Wicked Gods to revive Cecilia (whom I accidentally called Cynthia in the last fanfic) in Tea's body. The duels will also be different, but very few will be as different as that of Yugi vs. Yako. I'll include that duel, and spruce the spelling up, or even give it a complete redo depending on what the readers want, as I had to cut out Gorz the Emissary of Darkness last time. (That card is such a cop-out.)**

**So for those who read and enjoyed the last fic, then I hope you like this one!**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. I don't take any credit for this (although I do take reviews!)**

_A Wicked Shadow!_

Unfolding on a big screen were the events of the Battle City finals.

The power from the Ragnarok card surged through Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. They unleashed a surge of energy through a portal that sucked the Winged Dragon of Ra away and Yami Marik with it.

The face of his foe stood clearly on the screen – Yugi Muto.

A long haired figure sat in the shadows, holding a Duel Monsters card. The card was titled 'Maximillion Pegasus," and showed a silver haired figure in a red suit.

"My master. . . It's about to begin," said the figure.

"Yugi took everything from me. . . He has to pay. . ."

At the KaibaCorp head office a crisis was unfolding.

"Someone's trying to hack into our computer!" screamed one of the workers.

"They just broke through the thirteenth wall!" called another.

"And they're still going!" yelped a third.

"Contact Mister Kaiba in America!" roared Roland.

"We can't!" protested the first worker.

"All access is being denied!" added the third.

"He's searching for the password for the final stealth barrier!" yelled the second. "60% of 1024 complete! 65%! 70%! We're about to lose control of the main computer!"

"No!" yelled Roland. "Shut down the entire system!"

The second worker turned to him in shock.

"But if we do that, duel disks across the world will stop functioning!" he protested.

"It's better than the alternative! Do it!" ordered Roland.

"Yes sir!" the worker replied, twisting a key.

But nothing was happening.

"No. I can't shut it off!" cried the worker.

"What?" asked Roland.

"Looks like you're a little too late."

Roland jumped, his sunglasses falling to the ground as he gaped in shock at the figure that had just appeared out of thin air. The man had long silver hair that extended all the way down to the small of his back, and bangs that were about half as long. He was wearing ash white gloves, pants and shoes, and a closed pink coat with white cuffs.

"As of now, Kaiba Corporation's head office," said the man, with twenty shadowy figures appearing behind him, "is being taken over by the Asian division of Industrial Illusions."

He looked at the massive computer in the room. "So this is KaibaCorp's technology?" he wondered. "The core of the solid vision system. The Duel Ring server computer. My master strived for this. Now it's in my hands."

The workers could only gape in shock at the man.

_Just you wait, Yugi Muto. I'll take care of you soon enough,_ thought the man with a smile.

_Domino High_, 3:15.

Yugi Muto sat on his desk staring out the window at the KaibaCorp building thoughtfully.

"Hey, Yug'!" called his best friend, Joey Wheeler. "C'mon, let's go home." Behind him, their friends Tristan Taylor and Tea Gardner were waiting as well. Bakura Ryo had called in sick and left early – they would have normally been suspicious, but Yugi had had the Millennium Ring since the events of Battle City, so there was no danger of his dark side, Yami Bakura, endangering them.

"Yeah, I'm coming," said Yugi, picking up his school bag.

Then he heard it.

"Yugi Muto. . ."

"Huh?" asked Yugi turning toward where he thought that he'd heard the sound.

"Hey, shake a leg Yugi!" called Joey. "Whatcha' doing?"

Then he screamed. "Nyeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!"

Half a human head with long silver hair was poking out of a desk. That was creepy enough, but his right eye also bulged abnormally, adding to the eeriness of the scene. The man from Industrial Illusions rose out of the desk over the frightened faces of Yugi and Joey, now also wearing a heavy maroon mantle.

"A person coming outta the desk?" whispered Joey.

The man grinned. "Nice to meet you, King of Games," he said. "It's an honour."

"Who are you?" asked Yugi. "Where did you come from?" yelped a still unnerved Joey.

"My name is Yako Tenma," said the man. "I'm with Industrial Illusions."

_Industrial Illusions. . ._ thought Yugi.

"Never heard of it!" yelled Joey.

Behind him, Tea groaned. "You dork, it's the company that makes Duel Monsters. You know, Maximillion Pegasus's company?"

"Yeah, did you forget about Duelist Kingdom?" asked Tristan.

"No! I totally remember that!" protested Joey. _I totally don't remember that!_ "So what happened to him after we saw his guards dragging him away?" asked Joey.

"I heard that he disappeared after Duelist Kingdom. No-one's seen him since," replied Tristan.

Yugi looked at Yako. "What do you want?"

His eye bulging, Yako grinned. "If a duelist stands before the King of Games, there must be a battle." He raised his duel disk, shifting it to duel mode. "Yugi. You will duel me. And I will punish you by defeating you."

"You cannot refuse this."

The man disappeared into the roof, much to the shock of those watching.

"I'll be on the roof," he added casually.

"What was that?" asked Tea.

"A ghost?" cried Tristan.

"D. . . Don't be stupid," replied Joey.

"Let's go up there," said Yugi, more calmly.

Joey led the group in a sprint up the stairs, and threw open the door. Yako was waiting by the bell tower, smiling. He spread his arms. "Now then. Time to duel," he said.

"You aren't really here, are you?" said Yugi.

"Oh man, I knew it! He's a ghost that came back from the dead to duel Yugi!" yelped Joey.

"No," said Yugi. "I think he's a hologram, like the ones in a duel."

Yako clapped. "Well done Yugi, excellent analysis." He raised his duel disk with a grin. "But you will duel me, you can't maintain your title as the King of Games without facing up to challenges." He slid a card from his deck and held it up, he back facing Yugi. "Besides, this card won't let off easy." He held the card at arm's length. "Let me tell you. This card is invincible."

Joey lost it. He charged forward with a yell of "Who do you think you are?" but Yugi, his Millennium Puzzle glowing, flung out his arm to stop him.

"Alright then. I'll take you on!" called the spirit of the Puzzle, Yami Yugi.

"Let's duel!" they cried, shuffling their decks and drawing their cards.

From the server where Yako sat, he grinned. "Hmph. I don't expect you to know this, Yugi but you are going to face divine punishment. But not by your gods. By one whose creator hesitated to bring it into being!" _Wicked Avatar. . . _

"The first move is mine!" called Yugi, drawing a card.

"I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior!" he called. A hologram of a grey robot-like warrior with a magnet embossed head, sword and shield appeared, kneeling. (1400/1700) "That ends my turn."

"Then I counter that with Krokodilus!" (1100/1200) called Yakou, and a green crocodilian appeared. "Also I'll play these two cards facedown and finish on that."

Yugi drew carefully. _What's he up to?_ "I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior in defence mode!" (1500/1800) he called. The pink, winged magnet warrior appeared. _Better not mess with his facedown cards._ "I'll play two facedown cards and end my turn." _If he tries to attack, he'll run right into Mirror Force!_

Yako grinned as he drew. "I call upon Battle Warrior in defence mode! (700/1000) Then I reveal my facedown Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy one of your facedown cards!" he called. A whirlwind shattered Mirror Force. "I play Ultimate Offering! At a cost of 500 life points, I can summon another monster!" he called. His life points dropped to 3500. "I summon Red Eyes Wyvern in defence mode!" he called. (1800/1600)

As a result, the fist toting superhero, and a black armless dragon similar to Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon appeared. "Your turn Yugi," said Yako.

Yugi drew. "I play Card of Sanctity, which forces us to draw until we both have six cards!" he called. The two duelists replenished their hands.

"And Yako!" added Yugi. "I know the effect of Ultimate Offering."

Yako just leered back across the field.

"I pay 500 life points to summon Beta the Magnet Warrior!" called Yugi. (1700/1600) The yellow, sphere magnet construct rose up in attack mode, and its fellows stood up. "Then I'll use my Dust Tornado to destroy that trap of yours!" added Yugi, and a whirlwind smashed into the trap and destroyed it.

"You just watch Yako!" yelled Yugi, raising a card. "This is one of my Egyptian God cards!" He placed the card into his disk, where it glowed with electricity, sacrificing his three magnet warriors.

"I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!" (X000/X000)

A massive form coiled over Domino High. It was a colossal red, serpentine dragon, covered in spines and with disproportionally short limbs. Its mighty head had two mouths, one on top of the other, and it had a blue orb in its spiked forehead.

"Yeah, he summoned Slifer!" yelled Joey, as Tea and Tristan cheered in the background. Yako just grinned fiendishly, his right eye bulging. Slifer's attack points rose to 4000 due to the four cards on Yugi's hand.

"I attack Red Eyes Wyvern with Slifer!" yelled Yugi. "Thunder Force!"

The poor Wyvern never stood a chance. The shockwave blew Yako's hair in the breeze.

"Oooh, very nice!" he commented. "So this is your Egyptian God?"

Yugi looked at him, worried. _Why is he so calm?_ "What are you waiting for Yako? Show me what you've got!" he demanded. Yako closed his eyes.

"Okay, I'm ready. I won't just show you my power, I'll show you. . ." _My god! _he thought to himself. "My turn," he said, laughing at how Yugi's Card of Sanctity had helped him. "I activate the spell card Silent Doom, and I'm going to bring Red Eyes Wyvern back to the field."

The dark wyvern appeared with a snarl. Yugi just stared impassively back at Yako.

"I sacrifice three monsters."

Yugi blanched. _Excuse me?_

"And summon the Wicked Avatar!" finished Yako.

From the spot where the monsters had vanished, a spot of deep black formed in midair. It expanded until it was the size of at least two to three meters in diameter, forming a featureless orb.

_What?_ thought Yugi.

"What's that ball?" cried Joey. "It looks like a dark version of Yugi's Ra!"

Yakou smiled. _Wicked Avatar. Just like its name suggests, it is a divine embodiment. Now it transforms from a god, into an evil god!_

The orb shifted. It shimmered. Then it broke into a swirl of black substance that took on a form. It was a colossal black, serpentine dragon, covered in spines and with disproportionally short limbs. Its mighty head had two mouths, one on top of the other, and it had a black orb in its spiked forehead.

"S...Slifer!" cried Yugi. _What?_

Yako leered across the field, smiling with a self-satisfied smirk.

**So. SO! What do you guys think, have I done well enough or do you want me to quit this blasphemy! (Well, I don't think its blasphemy. . .) Come on, please, please, please review!**

**Okay, I'm not normally this frantic, but this is my first full-length fanfic, and I'm really nervous, even though I don't have to do much work. I haven't had much reader variety before.**

**Just to remind you, this is my depiction of how Yu-Gi-Oh! R would have happened in the anime, where Pegasus survived the attack on him. I'm not naming the attacker. I don't want to give stuff away! (Even though you know who he is.) **

**And finally, I am planning one short sequel to be put at the end of this fanfic. One duel. If you can guess who will be battling, and want to put forward ideas, feel free to do so, and I'll try to take them into consideration.**

**Please rate and review! **


	2. Avatar's Menace!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Hello, to any and all that happen to be reading this. It's me, and I'm back! Chapter Two, we see a hint of the power of the Wicked Avatar.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. **

_Avatar's Menace!_

A massive dark orb had just appeared opposite Yami Yugi and his Slifer the Sky Dragon. (4000 ATK/DEF currently) It had been summoned with a sacrifice of three monsters above the Domino High school.

At the head office of KaibaCorp, Yako Tenma sat in a machine, thinking to himself.

_When I held the wicked card_ _in my hand, during Phase 1, I felt something enter my heart._

_A presence mixed with my desire for revenge, which blurred the line between me and the Avatar._

_And the message from the incredible evil that came from the darkness was. . ._

_Destroy the Pharaoh. _

Yami Yugi could only gape in shock at Yako's monster, the Wicked Avatar.

_Such immense power! _thought Yugi. _Power that only a god could possess!_

As Slifer faced off against the dark version of itself that Yakou had summoned a terrible thought came to Yugi's mind. _What is the Wicked Avatar?_

His friends were similarly speechless.

"That black sphere transformed into Slifer!" cried Joey in shock.

Yugi pointed across the field. "But when a monster in summoned to your side of the field, Slifer strikes!" he yelled. Slifer's top mouth opened, and released blue lightning bolts. "Lighting Blast!" called Yugi.

The streams of energy forked towards the dark Slifer – and bounced off, dispelled.

_What? _thought Yugi in horror. _It just bounced off!_ "Why isn't Slifer's special ability working? Why?" protested Yugi.

Yako snorted. "You know there is a ranking amongst the god cards don't you?" asked Yako. "It's like a pyramid, and Ra is at the top." He grinned. "Wicked Avatar is a god and it's ranked the same as your Ra."

Yugi was thunderstruck. _Ranked. . . The same as Ra?_

_Yes. _thought Yako. _It's a Wicked God – but one that only brings you harm._

He clenched his gloved fist, right eye bulging. "I attack with Wicked Avatar!" he yelled, and the dark dragon formed a sphere of black lightning in its main mouth. "Dark Thunder Force!" he yelled, and Avatar spewed forth a column of black lightning, engulfing and blasting Slifer into nothingness. The lightning crackled around Yugi, forcing him down.

Tea was in shock. 'It took out Slifer with only one blow," she gasped.

"What is that card?" wondered Joey, as Tristan called his friends name in the background.

Yugi was in shock. _This is the power of the Wicked Avatar?_ The monster in question was changing again, into a dark ball, hovering between Yugi and Yako.

_This shape, like a dark sun . . . and a powerful wind that blows. . . This is definitely a god card! _Yugi thought to himself.

Joey was dumfounded. "I didn't know there were other gods," he admitted. "I thought Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor and the Winged Dragon of Ra were the only ones."

Yako laughed, and showed them the card, plucking it off his disk. "The god that appears before you is one I created on behalf of Pegasus."

Joey was furious. "So you created a card just 'cause you wanted to? You're not even Pegasus!" he yelled. Yako sniffed.

"Pegasus designed this card, but hesitated to actually create it," he replied.

Yugi gaped in surprise. _Pegasus was the owner and creator of the cards, but even _he_ hesitated to bring it into the world! _He continued to think. _After Pegasus made the three Egyptian God Cards, Ishizu told me it was believed that he was afraid of what they could do and feared them as his greatest mistake._

He looked over at Yako. _So that card could be more powerful than the Egyptian God cards?_

Yako didn't seem to be paying attention. "Master Pegasus," he whispered.

_Pegasus Mansion, one day before Duelist Kingdom._

_Yako sat, clothed in a similar manner to Pegasus, who sat opposite him, sipping from a teacup. "Duelist Kingdom begins tomorrow," said Yako._

"_Yes," replied Pegasus. "After that I will take over the Kaiba Corporation."_

"_All that . . . for your lost love, Cecelia?" asked Yako, as Pegasus stared at a card bearing his beloved wife's image. _

"_That's right Yako."_

_Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus' quarters, one day after his disappearance._

_Lying on the desk was the card that bore the image of Cecelia Pegasus. Yako stood above it, shocked and terrified. "Th-This card is his precious Cecelia. . . Where has Master Pegasus gone? There's no way he'd just leave this card. No."_

"_NOOOO!"_

_Croquet burst into the room, worried. Like Yako he knew nothing of his master's disappearance, and was frantic about his safety. He found Yako sobbing on the floor, screaming through his hands._

"_Who was it? Who did this to Master Pegasus? Who?"_

_Croquet bowed. "Sir . . . before his collapse, he had just lost a duel to a boy named Yugi Muto._

_The only noise that could be heard was Yako's heavy heartbeat._

"_. . . Yugi . . . Muto . . ."_

"Pegasus was my master," said Yako. "My mentor. My family."

"Yugi . . . you took everything from me. You will learn about loss as I have." he whispered.

Joey's strangled shout broke Yugi's concentration. "Hey, Tea!" he yelled.

Before their eyes, the form of Tea Gardner disappeared in wisps of smoke. "Yu . . . gi," she called before vanishing.

"She's gone!" cried Tristan.

"Yako!" roared Yugi. "What did you do to her?"

Yako burst into insane laughter, his right eye bulging. "Tea Gardner is in my hands! She's part of an important project of mine."

"What are you saying?" asked Yugi sternly.

"Project R.A.!" yelled Yako. "She's going to be sacrificed."

He pointed at Yugi. "Yugi! Do you want to save her?"

"She'd better be alright!" yelled Yugi.

"For now, yes," replied Yako. "But the Project is progressing. I can't promise anything."

"What!" yelled Tristan and Joey.

"Phase two of the Project. The takeover of the head office of KaibaCorp!"

"Did you take over the building!" yelled Joey.

"You kidnap Tea and now this?" asked Yugi angrily. "What are you up to Yako?"

"Revenge."

"What?" asked Yugi in surprise.

Yako began to shred in wisps of smoke. "Tea and I will be at the head office. If you want to save her, come and stop me," he told them. "But you'll have to take on all my minions first."

The colours of the image of Yako blurred into darkness. "Yugi, you better beat every enemy you are about to face."

"Because I will be the evil avatar that punishes you for your sins."

"What? Wait!" protested Yugi.

But Yako was already gone.

"What is happening?" whispered Yugi.

At the KaibaCorp head office, Yako emerged from his machine.

"Work your way up, Yugi," he said. "Up the steps to your defeat."

"Proceed to Phase three of Project R.A.!" he called to his men. "Now!"

Behind him sat Tea Gardner's motionless body in a similar machine that Yako had been in, wearing her school uniform.

The sun was setting as Yugi, Joey and Tristan approached the KaibaCorp tower.

_We're coming for you Tea! _thought Yugi.

**Oh, I love it. Wicked God Slifer (the Wicked Avatar shape-shifted into Slifer) is so badass. The Wicked Gods are cool and freaky, but the Egyptian Gods are just so freaking badass!**

**Okay, I forgot about Slifer's effect for last chapter, but so did the actual writers.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R!: It's like a fanfiction, but written by actual writers (corrupted quote from LittleKuriboh.)**

**So guys, please rate and review, so I can tailor the story to your needs and wants.**


	3. KaibaCorp Duel Begins!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**I'm back! Chapter Three, and Yugi fight this dude with no taste in clothing. I'm NOT kidding, it's bad. Really bad.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. (That means you came up with those pants!)**

**To ****NoviceNovelist****, who review my Yugi vs. Yakou! fiction, and I'm sorry for not answering this properly: Thank you, that review meant a lot to me as a relatively new writer. And for a while, this story wouldn't come up when I searched for it, so most people that did find it would have probably found it through my profile link from when I review.**

_KaibaCorp Duel Begins!_

Yugi Muto stood outside the KaibaCorp head office, with Joey and Tristan waiting behind him.

"Let's go," said Yugi.

Joey looked up at the statue of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Kaiba's signature monster. "Sheesh, this place looks creepier than ever," he muttered. "So this is where they've got Tea?"

A shrouded figure stood behind the statue, holding a card. Quickly, he threw it at the trio, and Yugi caught it as it came towards him, switching with Yami Yugi as he did so.

"Who's there!" yelled Joey. "Show yourself!" called Tristan.

"Don't hide in the shadows, you coward," said Yugi evenly.

The man shuffled out from behind the statue. He had long dark hair that was messy and unkempt, though his beard was meticulously trimmed. He wore a maroon hoodie with a wide collar, and Egyptian style bracelets on his forearms. Strangely, he appeared to be wearing two sets of pants, a dark leather pair with the front removed over jeans.

And he carried a duel disk.

"There you are," commented Yugi.

"Are you one of the Industrial Illusions guys!" asked Joey.

"Nope," replied the man. "I'm just a temp. A mercenary. Deschutes Lew, card professor."

"What'" asked Joey in confusion.

"Have you ever heard of the prize match in America?" asked Deschutes. "They hire professionals like card professors and control the whole thing to get rich. This building is full of card professors. Thirteen of them, including me."

Tristan gasped. _Thirteen card professors?_

"What is this sick game!" snarled Yugi. Joey and Tristan saw that he was looking at the card. The image bore Tea's face.

"But that's Tea on that card!" protested Joey.

_Yes. Just like how Pegasus imprisoned my grandfather and the Kaiba brothers. _thought Yugi.

"Courtesy of my boss upstairs," added Deschutes, gesturing at the KaibaCorp building.

_Yako! _thought Yugi furiously.

"You want to get to him, you're gonna have to beat me in a duel," said Deschutes. "If you win, you can have this card," he added, holding out a card bearing the KaibaCorp logo. "It's a key card to enter the building. But if I win, you'll have to give that card with the girl back to me!" he laughed, pointing at Yugi. "I saw her upstairs," he added. "And she's pretty cute. She's too good for a shrimp like you!" he commented.

"Enough!" yelled Yugi. "You can talk all you want if you can beat me, but we don't have all day. Let's do this!"

Drawing their starting five cards they cried "Duel!"

"I'll kick this off," yelled Yugi, drawing a card. 'I set a card facedown! I summon my Queen's Knight!" (1500/1600) he called. A card hologram, followed by the image of a red armoured female knight appeared. "That ends my turn."

Deschutes drew with a snort. "Building up to a God card? It won't be that easy." He slid a card into his disk. "I summon my Gear Golem in defence mode!" he called, and the robotic form of Gear Golem the Moving Fortress appeared in front of him. (800/2200)

"You're on the defensive already?" asked Joey in disbelief. "You're all talk."

Deschutes ignored him. "I'll play two cards facedown and end my turn." _Now Yugi, summon whatever you like. Even a god._

"I don't care what you have up your sleeve," said Yugi. "I have trust in my cards, and that's my strategy. Now I draw!" he called. "I summon King's Knight!" (1600/1400) he called, and the orange armoured knight appeared on the field. "Now I have king and queen on my side of the field. Come on, Jack's Knight!" he called, and the blue armoured, younger knight appeared. (1900/1000)

"All right!" called Joey. He has all three of his knights that he can use to summon an Egyptian God card!"

Yugi held up a card. "From my hand I equip the spell, Lightning Blade!" he called, and a new sword with an elaborate design appeared in Jack's Knights hand. Its attack points rose to a hefty amount. (2700 ATK) "Jack's Knight attacks with Lightning Blade!" he called.

But suddenly, the lunging knight's assault was halted as his sword was blasted back by a whirlwind.

"Phew. That was close," commented Deschutes. "Negate Attack halts your attack and ends the battle right there." _Hmph. So this is the so-called King of Games? The more aggressive this guy gets, the faster he falls into my trap._ He drew, and smiled. "I sacrifice Gear Golem to summon Castle Gate in attack mode!" he called. (0/2400)

Yugi gasped as a massive gate with arms and battlements appeared in front of Deschutes.

"This monster cannot be destroyed in battle!" called Deschutes.

"What?" protested Tristan. "Now the knights' attacks will have no effect!"

_Yes, but its attack points are zero. _thought Yugi to himself. _Why hasn't he attacked yet? What's his strategy?_

Deschutes grinned. "Don't think you can relax because his attack points are zero. I'm just starting. Now I play Bain Control!" he called. "I play 800 points and your Jack's Knight becomes mine!"

Jack's Knight jumped over to Deschutes' side of the field, as his life points hit 3200. "Now I play the ability of Castle Gate!" called Deschutes. Jack's Knight dived behind the Gate. "Gate open!" yelled Deschutes. The gate opened to reveal a massive cannon, which blasted Yugi's Jack's Knight at him. "Monster Cannon!"

Yugi gasped as the blast hit him, dropping his life points down to 1300. Deschutes laughed. "I can continue to use my monsters as a wall, and whittle away at your life points. He played another card. "I play Block Attack to shift my Castle Gate into defence mode!" he called, laughing. "How's having your precious friend attack you?"

Yugi just drew his next card, and glared at Deschutes.

"I sacrifice King's and Queen's Knights' to summon my Dark Magician!" (2500/2100)

Yugi's iconic purple robed mage jumped out and hovered beside him. "I'm not going to let you control my friends anymore!" yelled Yugi.

Deschutes burst out laughing. "Go my facedown card! Forceful Deal! By paying half my life points and all my monsters," he yelled, as Castle Gate disappeared, "I gain control of all your monsters, though only when you summon a monster!"

Dark Magician reappeared on Deschutes side of the field, grimacing as the card professor laughed. Yugi just glared at him.

"So much for friendship," said Deschutes. "Now go ahead and end your turn."

"Like I said," replied Yugi. "I'm not going to let you control my friends anymore." He raised his hand. "I activate the spell card Owner's Seal!" he yelled. "Now the monsters on the field return to their original controllers! I've got Dark Magician back!" he yelled, and Dark Magician lept back to Yugi.

_N-No way. . ._ thought Deschutes.

"Whoops," added Yugi. "It's still my turn. You ready? I attack with Dark Magician!"

The spellcaster lunged. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Deschutes Lew fell backwards with a scream of shock.

"Friendship prevails!" called Yugi, standing back-to-back with his ace monster.

**Oh thank god, I'm sick of this chapter. This is mainly because I wrote a transcript of t with very little change. I'm also tired of writing Deschutes' name all the time, especially because he's such an arrogant person, even when he loses. I mean, seriously, who does he think he is? He's got such an ego problem!**

**Next chapter probably won't be for a week, because my mid-semester break is over, and because the next card professor is one of my favourites. So hold on to your britches, and please rate and review!**


	4. Terror of the Immortal Deck!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Oh crap, I just looked at the last chapter and I've missed a whole lot of grammar errors. (Effin' American Microsoft Word.) No offense to the Americans out there. And this chapter took a little longer to write because it had one of my favourite characters in it, and I wanted to give her more screen time.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. **

**NoviceNovelist: Wow. That is possibly the longest review I have ever seen for a fanfiction. I hope I don't disappoint you. From this day forth I shall be true to grammar errors. I will fix those I have already made. They shall be more fixed than they could ever be fixed. Having said that I will most likely make some grammar errors this chapter. I promise I'm not being an ass. I'm glad you like the story so far! As for the god issue, I'm as cautious as 4Kids when it comes to throwing the word around, and sometimes I'm not sure whether to capitalise it. Don't worry, I didn't take this criticism the wrong way (gives Yako glare. You know the one.) I appreciate the help! If there's anything you want to see in this (like maybe a specific duel extension, or more focus on a favourite character) just ask in a review, and I'll see if I can work it in. And as present, I'll update earlier then I was going to.**

_Terror of the Immortal Deck!_

In Yako Tenma's new office, a large figure stood in the shadows. Silently he reached out, revealing a pale hand that was as large as the rest of him, reaching for the Wicked Avatar card.

"Hands off . . . my card!" snarled Yako.

The man chuckled. "You knew I was here," he replied in a condescending tone.

"I know you've got a bad hand," replied Yako.

The man snorted. "So how's it going, boss?" he asked.

"Deschutes got taken out," said Yako.

The man burst out laughing. "That pompous idiot! Well I knew that he wouldn't be much of a challenge!" he commented. "After all, you were the one that rounded these guys up, not me."

Yako just sat there impassively. "It doesn't matter."

"What're you talking about, you saw this coming?" asked the man. "Just why are you doing this? For kicks?"

"I don't know," replied Yako, picking up the Wicked Avatar card. "I don't know why."

"No, yes I do," he said, right eye bulging. "The duelist inside me feels it. You know that the R.A. Project can't proceed without these fights." The man behind him, a large blond, unshaven fellow wearing sunglass smirked at that.

The key card made a beep as Yugi slid it through the slot. The door of the lobby slid upwards. Yugi stood with Joey and Tristan, remembering what he'd been told. . .

"_Good job. Okay, so you beat me," said Deschutes. "The rumours are true, you're one tough duelist," he added, handing over the key card. Yugi held it silently. _I got the key card!

"_Listen up, King of Games," said Deschutes. The KaibaCorp building is divided into ten blocks. For security purposes, you get me? You need a key card to get from one block to another, got it?"_

_Yugi smiled. "And you're allowed to give me this information?" he asked._

"_Yup, no problem," said Deschutes. "I respect you, Yugi. But it's not much. Won't help you demolish all the card professors in your way." He turned and walked down the stairs and away. "There's still twelve more. Best of luck."_

_Joey snorted with a grin. "As if he really means it. Let's go!"_

The three of them entered the room, the door closing behind them. Tristan looked around. "Then there'll be another card professor on this floor," he remarked grimly.

"Bring it on," replied Joey. "Yugi and I will take care of them."

"Is that all you think about?" asked Tristan angrily. "We're here to save Tea, remember!" he yelled.

"I know, but we've gotta fight to get there!" protested Joey.

Suddenly, mist swirled around Yugi's feet.

"Joey! Tristan!" he yelled to the two boys (who were grappling with each other in the background.) "We got company!"

"What with the fog!" yelled Tristan, looking frantically around.

"Welcome to my duel field," said a voice.

A form walking out of the fog in front of an iron gate and dead trees that had just appeared. The speaker was a woman dressed in a purple-black shirt, and long skirt, wearing a black leather corset over them, black, high-heeled boots, and with ruffles forming a second skirt, and emerging from her sleeves and waist. Her blond hair was held back with a thick black band.

"I am Tilla Mook," she continued. "Your second opponent."

"Whoa, are we outside?" asked Joey.

"Relax, man," said Tristan. "It's just a hologram."

"I wanted to make my duel field appropriate for my master, who sleeps in my deck," said Tilla. "He will destroy you."

Yugi switched with Yami Yugi. "Since you like this barren field so much, I'll make it your master's graveyard for you!" he said.

Tilla smiled. "I put up the key card to the next block. You'll put up the Tea Gardner card. That will be proof that I beat you. I'll be getting a cash reward in return."

"A cash reward for Yugi?" asked Joey.

Tilla smiled again. "Yugi, you are now worth $100,000!"

"What!" asked Joey trying to count on his fingers. "How much am I worth!" he asked.

"You? Ten bucks," replied Tilla. "Now get away from me."

Joey clenched his fists as Yugi and Tristan sweatdropped. _I hate you, Yako._

"Now, then, shall we begin?" asked Tilla sweetly.

"Let's duel!" they cried, drawing their starting hands.

"I'll start!" called Tilla, drawing a card.

Yugi just glared across the field at her.

"I play two cards face down," said Tilla. "I summon Blood Sucker!" she called, and a red-skinned fiend with pterosaur-like arms appeared. (1300/1500) "Your move," she said, closing her eyes and smiling in pleasure.

_Okay,_ thought Yugi to himself as he drew. _Is she waiting for me to attack her?_ He scanned his hand, and selected a card.

"I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode!" he called (1700/1600) and the yellow figure composed of spheres and magnets appeared. "Attack!" he yelled, and Beta charged. "Destroy Blood Sucker!" he yelled, and Beta ploughed into the zombie, shattering it.

Eyes closed Tilla continued to smile calmly as her life points dropped to 3600.

Yugi was a bit rattled. _She isn't even worried!_

Tilla shrugged. "Guess my facedown card didn't intimidate you. Good for you. Very well, I activate my trap card." The card flipped over. "With the effect of my Blood Curse trap card, when a monster I control is destroyed I can summon a vampire to take its place!" she called. "I summon Vampire Lady from my deck," she said, and a green skinned, green haired vampire in a purple dress appeared, smiling seductively. (1550/1550)

Yugi watched, worried. _Is she going to summon a more powerful monster next turn? _he wondered. "I play a card facedown and end my turn," he declared.

Tilla drew. "Oh," she said in disappointment. "He's not here yet." She added the card to her hand while Yugi watched nervously.

"I sacrifice Vampire Lady, and I summon Vampire Lord!" she called. The female vampire vanished, replaced by a white skinned vampire with green hair. He gave Yugi a nasty grin. "Then I reveal my facedown Call of the Haunted!" added Tilla. "I bring back a monster in attack mode, so my Vampire Lady returns to the field!" The vampire seductress appeared out of the ground.

"I attack with Vampire Lord!" called Tilla, and the vampire lunged, smashing through Beta.

Yugi grimaced as his life points dropped to 3700. "I activate a trap card!" he called. "Soul Rope! By paying 1000 life points I can summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior from my deck!" he said, and a pink robot with a spherical body, wings and powerful fists appeared. (1500/1800) "My turn now," said Yugi.

He drew his card and smiled. _Great!_ "I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts!" yelled Yugi, and a brown, horned lion with a black mane leapt into view. (1500/1200) "And I activate the spell card Union Attack from my hand!" he called. "Now my monsters attack as one, in exchange for not being able to inflict damage!"

Gazelle and Gamma charged (Total ATK: 3000) at Vampire Lord, blasting it to shards. Tilla just stood there, continuing to smile.

"My turn now," she said, and she drew her card. She smiled.

"You say this barren field is for your master?" said Yugi. "Well then, call your master! Awake him from his slumber in your deck!" he said.

Tilla smiled. "Alright, if you insist," she replied. "But let me tell you the reason I call him my master." Tilla selected the card she had drawn. "Once he wakes up," she said with a wink. "He takes over the field until the battle ends, for he is a resurrected immortal!" she called. "I sacrifice Vampire Lady and I summon Vampire's Curse!" she cried.

A new vampire stepped into view. While Vampire Lord had a dangerous look in he even features, Yugi could see that this creature exuded danger in spades. It had spiky hair and a grim look on its face. It also bore large talons, and bat wings that it used like a cape.

"We're in battle now!" called Tilla. "On your knees!" she yelled.

Much to Yugi's shock, his monsters obeyed. Tilla grinned as the image of a spell card appeared before her.

"My spell card, Overpowering Eye allows a zombie with 2000 or less attack points to make a direct attack!" called Tilla. "Vampire's Curse attacks with Razor Nail Blade!" The vampire scythed his claws into Yugi, dropping him to 700 life points as he cried out in agony.

Tilla laughed. "You're still standing."

Joey and Tristan looked at their friend, worried.

"This is not good," said Joey.

Tilla slotted a card into her disk. "I play this card facedown and turn it over to you, Yugi."

Yugi drew, and looked at the card. If I _had drawn this last turn, I could have won this turn! But, oh well, I'll do something else instead!_ He set the card on the field, and then he selected another card. "I sacrifice Gamma and Gazelle to summon my Buster Blader!" he called. The massive purple armoured dragon-slayer appeared (2600/2300) and unsheathed his massive sword. "I also equip him with Lightning Blade to power him up by 800 points!" added Yugi, and a different sword appeared in Buster Blader's hands

"Attack!" yelled Yugi. "Vampire's Curse, be gone!" Buster Blader charged, cutting down Vampire's Curse. Tilla again just stood there, her life points down to 2200.

"You did it Yugi!" called Joey.

"Piece of cake!" added Tristan.

Tilla grinned. "My turn." She drew her card. "And now he resurrects," she said.

A howling form flew out of her graveyard slot and sank its teeth into her neck, absorbing her power and blood. Vampire's Curse stood there, reborn.

The other three watched in disgust.

"That's nasty," muttered Tristan, looking away.

"This is immortality," replied Tilla. "He drinks my blood and becomes even stronger." Her life points went down to 1700, but the attack points of Vampire's Curse had increased to 2500.

"No matter how many times you beat him he comes back," said Joey in shock.

Tristan shuddered. "That's gotta be the creepiest thing I've ever seen."

Tilla activated a facedown card. "Now I play Reverse Trap to reverse the attack and defence increases or decreases this turn!" Buster Blader was down to 1800 attack points, but Vampires Curse only to 2000. "Vampire's Curse, Razor Nail Blade!" yelled Tilla. The vampire charged and scythed through Buster Blader, dropping Yugi to 500 life points. Tilla grinned as she set another Reverse Trap. "Whatever you summon Yugi, Vampire's Curse will just return stronger and finish you off next turn!" she said smugly.

Yugi just drew with a chuckle. "Don't be so sure," he replied. He held up a card. "I activate the spell card Monster Reborn!" he called. "Now one of _my_ monsters is resurrected. My Buster Blader!" he called, and the massive warrior appeared on the field. "Attack!" he yelled, and the warrior slashed Vampire's Curse to pieces.

Tilla growled. "I play 500 life points to revive my Vampire's Curse next turn!" she yelled. "Even if it destroys Vampire's Curse my master just resurrects and gets stronger! Don't you get it?" Her life points fell to 1200.

"Oh yeah, I get it," said Yugi. His facedown flipped up. "I activate the trap card Relentless Assault!" he called. "When a warrior fells a monster, it can attack again with its attack points cut in half!"

"What?" gasped Tilla. She looked up to see Buster Blader standing over her. "But. . ." she protested, and Buster Blader brought his sword down, sending her flying and reducing her life points to zero.

Cheering, Joey and Tristan ran over to their friend.

"Now your master kneels to us!" said Yugi. "You lose!"

**Oh, good lord. This was really hard to adapt, and I think I screwed up with Reverse Trap. Again, no cards are original here – Joey will use Relentless Assault officially in chapter six (as in, that was when he first used it in the manga. It's also been weakened enough to keep it less broken.)**

**So far this has been my favourite chapter. I think Tilla was one of the first R characters I ever heard about when I was reading about the black duel disk. At the time, I didn't know what kind of person she was, and almost ended up blurring her with FFVII's Tifa. Yeah, that was a big mistake.**

**The next chapter is two combined into one, because of their linked nature (not a two part duel!) and because the next two card professors annoy me almost as much as Deschutes.**

**Please Review!**


	5. Joey's Plan! Marevlous Armed Division!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Righty-o, I'm combining two chapters into one this time. So this might get a bit confusing. It's time for Joey to kick some ass! I've just realized that the KaibaCorp building is a lot like, say, the Silph. Co building in Pokemon, or something like that. This key card thing should so be one of those puzzles! (Or at least a harder version than those similar ones that I think exist.)**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. **

_Joey's Plan! And Marvellous Armed Division!_

While Tristan and Yugi stood by the door holding the key card, Joey was walking over to a thoroughly depressed Tilla Mook.

"Hey," he whispered. "Can you lend me your duel disk?"

Tilla frowned, but eventually took her deck out and slipped off the disk, handing it to Joey.

Joey slid it onto his wrist. "Thanks," he said. "I'll return it, I promise."

He gave her a cheeky grin, and dashed off down the corridor after Yugi and Tristan. He caught up with them, smiling.

"Now who's next?" he said.

Tristan sighed. "I told you Joey, we've got to reach Yako and save Tea. We're not just here to win duels."

"I know," replied Joey. "That's why we have to keep on winning. For Tea."

Tristan still looked sceptical, so Joey went on the offensive.

"What? Do you think I'm gonna lose!" he yelled. "Man, some friend you are!"

Tristan flinched a bit at that.

"Don't worry Tristan," said Yugi. "Joey was in the Battle City finals." He looked around at his friends. "Whatever we're up against, we can win."

They each remembered that day at this very building, where Yugi had defeated Kaiba for the first time. The smiley face that Tea had drawn on their hands was still shining bright in their memories.

"Yes, we've always gotten through thanks to our friendship," said Yugi. "Let's get back the missing piece!"

They turned a corner, and came out into another room, with several staircases leading out. Looking around, Joey saw a card lying on the ground, and ran over to it.

"What is it, Joey?" asked Tristan.

Joey picked up the card, a Trap Hole.

"Hmmm," he muttered. "Trap Hole."

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble. Joey looked around nervously. "Eh? What's that?"

Then the floor dropped open beneath him, and sent him falling with a scream.

"Joey!" cried Yugi.

"Ah, you idiot!" yelled Tristan. He pushed Yugi away from the trapdoor.

"Tristan," protested Yugi.

"Yugi, you go on ahead!" yelled Tristan. He leapt into the hole as it began to close. "We'll join you later! Don't let 'em beat you, okay?" As he disappeared from sight he gave Yugi the thumbs up.

"Joey! Tristan!" yelled Yugi as the floor closed. Then he saw a man standing there in military garb.

Tristan picked himself up, rubbing the small of his back. "Ouch. Joey, you alright?"

Joey was just standing there, looking at a small fellow that looked like he'd come off the street. His clothes were too big for him, and the shoulders were padded. His Naruto-whiskered face was framed by two spikes of hair that jutted out the side of his head.

"I'm Klamath Osler," said the small man with a laugh. "I didn't expect anyone to come tumbling down here."

Tristan wasn't impressed, not after all the duelists his friends had already fought. "So this is the block's card professor?" he asked.

"Looks like it," agreed Joey.

Klamath chuckled. "Coupla losers walking right into Kirk's trap."

"Who're you calling losers, ya shrimp!" yelled Joey as Tristan sweatdropped.

"When I drew the bottom I thought I'd be out of the game," remarked Klamath. "I'm still lucky."

"What are you mumbling about?" asked Joey. "We have to beat you to go up, so let's duel already!" His disk shifted into duelling mode, as did Klamath's.

"Yeah, you can do it!" yelled Tristan. "Go Joey!"

The two duelists faced off. "Let's Duel!"

The man walked towards Yugi. "Yugi Muto," he said. "Your friends are always watching over you when you duel. And we card professors don't understand it. But I hear you're a lot tougher when your friends are around." He grinned nastily. "Well, we need to exclude such uncertain factors."

"So it was your doing," said Yugi.

The man saluted. "I am Kirk Dixon." He dropped his hand with a smile. "Your friends were easy prey. They walked right into the first trap, and had they made it further they would have found a lot more too."

When Yugi didn't respond, Kirk grinned, shifting his disk to duelling mode. "You must be in a hurry so let's get this underway. Let's duel." But Yugi still ignored him. Kirk grinned, adjusting his glasses. "Or can't you fight without your little friends?" he asked.

Yugi finally spoke up. "Where are Joey and Tristan?" he asked.

Kirk shrugged. "Well, this building does have a lot of traps for security. I'm not sure which leads where. But, if you ask me, I'm sure they wound up right where they belong. Like the garbage room," he finished nastily.

Switching to Yami Yugi, Yugi stood up. "That's it! I won't let you insult my friends!" His disk shifted to duelling mode. "You're going to pay with your defeat. Now, let's duel!" he yelled, and they drew their five starting cards.

Joey and Klamath drew their starting hands.

"My turn," said Klamath, drawing a card. He laughed. "I've drawn a good one. Lucky. I'm lucky!" he called, and slapped the card onto his disk. "I summon Dark Antlion!" he called. But nothing happened. Joey couldn't see the monster. (1500/1000)

"Alright, where's the monster you just summoned!" asked Joey. "Your duel disk broken or something?" he asked.

Klamath laughed. "You don't get it, do you?" he said. "Nothing's wrong with my disk. Just come on."

"Fine!" yelled Joey. He drew a card, and slid it onto his disk. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!" he called, and the warrior sealed in a suit of armour leaped out onto the field. (1800/1600) "Attack, Gearfried!" yelled Joey, and the knight charged – and vanished, dropping into a tornado of sand. "What's with the hole!" yelled Joey in confusion. Then he saw a pair of mandibles emerge from it. "And what's the thing at the bottom?" he added.

"Behold the Dark Antlion!" yelled Klamath. The massive antlion snapped Gearfried in two, and Joey lost 200 points, bringing him down to 3800. Klamath laughed. "When a monster steps into the Dark Antlion's territory it loses 500 attack points!" he called. You'd better be careful before going in!"

'Ready?" asked Yugi drawing a card. "I play two cards facedown!" he called. "I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior in defence mode!" (1400/1700) and the grey robot warrior armed with a sword and shield appeared crouching. "Now it's your turn!" said Yugi.

Kirk drew. _Laugh while you can, and let's see if you can keep up with my ultimate armed force!_ He selected his card. "I play one card facedown," he said. "I summon Machina Soldier!" he cried, and a green robot with a sword for its right hand appeared. (1600/1500) "Normally I'd be able to summon another Machina monster from my hand, but I don't have any," he admitted. "But that's not a problem!" he called. "Not with my Ties of the Brethren spell card! It allows me to summon two monsters from my deck with the same attribute as one level four monster on my field, but they can't attack or be sacrificed!"

"I summon Machina Sniper and Machina Defender!" he called, and a blue tank-like robot appeared, (1200/1800), followed by a tan humanoid robot carrying a rifle. (1800/800)

Yugi looked in shock at the monsters. _Three monsters in just one turn!_

Kirk thought to himself. "Since none of my monsters could bring down yours, I think I'll end my turn."

Angrily, Joey slipped a facedown into his disk and ended his turn.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Tristan in concern.

Klamath snickered and drew. _Luck is on my side! _"I equip my Dark Antlion with Laser Cannon Armour to power it up by 300 points!" called Klamath."Then I summon Worm Drake!" (1400/1500) he called, and a green serpent appeared. "Now attack this loser directly!" called Klamath, and they charged, taking Joey down to 600 life points.

"What are you doing?" asked both Tristan and Klamath.

Klamath continued. "You placed a useless facedown card!"

Joey cursed. He'd been bluffing, but it hadn't worked. _I hate insect cards._

"Luck's on my side," said Klamath. "Maybe I could beat Yugi Muto."

Joey stopped being worried. _Who does this twerp think he is?_ "Dream on, ya shrimp!" he said as he drew. "I summon Rocket Warrior in defence mode!" he called. (1500/1300"And I'll play one card facedown and end my turn."

Klamath laughed. "You put up a good struggle, but your defence is nothing against my Dark Antlion!" He drew and selected his card. "With Double Evolution, the bonus from my Laser Cannon is doubled!" he yelled. Antlion was now at 2100 attack points. "Worm Drake attacks!" he yelled.

Joey touched the button on his disk. "I reveal my facedown card, Magical Arm Shield!" he yelled. A pair of large arms reached out and snatched up Dark Antlion. Klamath shrieked in horror as Worm Drake was blown to shreds, taking him down to 3300 life points.

"No," he protested. That's no fair!"

Joey just drew. "Hey, you're the one saying that luck's on your side. Actually, me too. I'm feeling lucky," he said placing a card onto the field.

Klamath snorted. "With your life points down to 600? Get real!"

"Go Roulette Spider!" yelled Joey, and a cartoonish spider with an arrow pointing out of its abdomen leapt up and blindfolded Dark Antlion. Then it began to spin along a spider web wheel, with three targets: Joey, Klamath, and Rocket Warrior.

"Wh-What's going on!" asked Klamath. "Let's see where the arrow stops!" yelled Joey. "C'mon, spin!" He looked at Klamath. "You stop it."

Klamath was furious. _This must be his desperation card. But there's only a one in three chance of me getting hit. Nothing to be afraid of. I'm lucky, right?_ "Stop!" he screamed.

"My turn!" yelled Yugi. "First I'll play a third facedown card!" he called. "Then I sacrifice Alpha and summon Dark Magician Girl!" The blue and pink clothed spellcaster appeared, smiling. "Attack Machina Defender!" yelled Yugi, and she let lose a blast of magical power.

"That's more like it," said Kirk. "I reveal my Yellow Alert! Trap card!" he called, and the card flipped up. "It brings out a monster from my hand in defence mode to block the attack!" he called. "I chose my Caterpillar Tank!" (2700/2000) A large golden armoured tank appeared, and the attack slammed harmlessly into it. Kirk chuckled and the tank disappeared. "When the battle is over my tank retreats," he added. "But it's my turn now."

He drew and grinned. "Now here's the ultimate formation of my armed division!" he called. He placed a card onto his disk. "I summon Commander Covington!"

One of the strangest monsters Yugi had ever seen appeared, a green clad commander his face hidden except for two glowing eyes. (1000/600) Kirk adjusted his glasses. "Commander Covington will keep the machines on my field together!" he yelled. "Unite Commander Covington, my Machina unite into Machina Force!" he yelled. (4600/4100)

The three Machina disassembled into separate parts, and then they rearranged those parts to form a quadruped robot with the arms of Machina Defender and Machina Sniper, and the head of Machina Soldier.

_4600 attack points!_ thought Yugi in surprise.

"Here I come!" yelled Kirk, paying 1000 life points to attack. "Machina Force attacks with Machina Knuckle!" The massive machine lunged – and stopped. "What?" screamed Kirk in shock.

"Oh, no!" yelled Joey. "It's me!"

Sure enough, Roulette Spider was pointing at him.

"Yes!" cried Klamath. "Today's my lucky day! You lose!" he said.

Joey smiled. "Not quite," he said. "I play my facedown card, Probability Change!"

The spider started to spin again. Klamath couldn't believe it. "What! It was pointing at you!"

"The next one is for keeps," said Joey. "The arrow won't point at me next time," he sniggered. "It's a one in two chance Klamath!"

Klamath was sweating now. _I'm lucky!_ "Stooop!" he shrieked.

The arrow did stop – at Klamath. "Oh?" he said "M-me?"

Dark Antlion blasted him, reducing him to 2200 life points.

"And I'm not done!" yelled Joey. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Gearfried!" he yelled, and the Iron Knight leapt up, ready to fight. "Then I summon my Panther Warrior" he added, and a feline warrior monster leapt into play, clutching a sword and shield. (2000/1200) "Then my Giant Trunade returns all our spell and traps to our hands!" said Joey. A hurricane blasted Klamath's two equip cards off the field, reducing Dark Antlion to 1500 attack points.

"Rocket Warrior shifts into attack mode and blasts off!" said Joey. The rocket smashed into Dark Antlion, reducing it further to 1000 attack points. "Gearfried destroys it!" yelled Joey, and the Iron Knight crushed Antlion, despite the loss of its power, and Klamath cursed as his life points hit 1900.

Joey pointed at Klamath. "Panther Warrior sacrifices my Gearfried to finish you off!" he yelled, and Klamath screamed as he fell backwards in a cloud of smoke from the attack, his life points at zero.

"All right!" yelled Joey. "It's my lucky day after all!"

Tristan groaned as he walked over to the unconscious Klamath. "You're more of a gambler than a duelist," he muttered.

Kirk couldn't believe it. "How!" he screamed. "My ultimate Machina Force," he protested weakly.

"Was never there to begin with!" said Yugi. He thumbed towards Commander Covington. "Take a look at the effect of my facedown card, Spellbinding Illusion!" he added. "Not only does your monster lose its ability to unite the Machina, it loses 500 attack points!" he called.

He drew. "Now I play my two facedown cards! Magic Formula to power up Dark Magician Girl by 500 points!" he yelled. "And I use Star Changer to increase her level by one, allowing me to use this card, Diffusion Wave Motion!" he yelled. "Now she attacks all of your monsters at a cost of 1000 life points!"

Kirk watched in shock as the spellcaster sliced through his army effortlessly. "My ultimate united force – all gone!" he gasped. He dropped the key card at Yugi's feet and staggered backwards. "No. I can't have lost," he giggled.

There was a beep and the floor jerked beneath him, throwing Kirk into a massive trash can with a scream.

'He fell into his own trap," remarked Yugi grimly. He knelt and picked up the key card. "Joey. Tristan," he muttered sadly.

"Don't worry, Pharaoh," said Yugi appearing beside him. "They're fine! We know where they're headed, even if we don't know where they are now. They'll get to the end no matter what! And so will we. Because we have each other! And that's a variable that Dixon could never exclude!" he said.

Yami Yugi nodded, and walked towards the stairs. _You just wait, Yako._

Joey and Tristan were climbing up the stair of the basement when they saw a man dressed in military fatigues fall past then into a large dumpster.

**Oh my freaking god. So long! So much writing! Two annoying card professors. **

**Such an irony that the ass that is Kirk Dixon paved the way for one of the most powerful archetypes in the game today! He must be so proud, the old fart.**

**Anyway, it's all about Joey next chapter, which might seem weird for some reason. I don't know why. And another of my favourite R cards was in this chapter – Spellbinding Illusion. That card is so awesome.**

**Please review!**


	6. There Goes Joey

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**It's Chapter 6! Part of a rush of two or three chapters that I'm going to upload all at once for you, the readers! The card professor in this chapter might have a normal name, but don't let that fool you. This guy is just plain weird. (Note: I don't understand the title either.) **

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. **

_There Goes Joey._

The door whizzed open, and Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor stepped through.

"Oh," said Joey. "Finally, it's a big room."

"Yeah, but we're not on the ground yet," Tristan commented as he looked around the room.

The room wasn't just big – it was _huge._ Large tanks containing what appeared to be Duel Monsters cards were all over the place.

"Hey, you be careful, and just don't step on _another_ trap hole," said Tristan.

"I know!" yelled Joey. "Give it a rest!" He peered around in the dim light that the tanks were giving off. "Is this some kind of a lab?" he asked. He winced at all the floating creatures. "Okay, what's Kaiba up to, some kind of bio-experiments? Man, that's scary."

Tristan shook his head. "No, man, they're just holograms." He thought for a bit. "I think they might design the projectors here."

"All right, just a hologram," said Joey in relief. "Silly me."

Joey heard a tapping behind him, and turned around.

"WAAAH!" shrieked a skinny man with lots of hair.

"Waagh! Zombie!" screamed Joey. He stumbled backwards, tripped on a cable, and went sprawling.

The tank rose up, revealing a laughing man.

Joey glared at him as Tristan helped Joey up. "Well, you're no hologram, are ya?" he asked angrily.

The man, a thin fellow clad in black pants, singlet and arm warmers, along with a shock of messy hair smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I'm Pete. Pete Coppermine, card professor. Human." He laughed, running a hand through his messy hair. "The look on your face was priceless," he commented. "I've been lying low just to see that."

Joey growled, but Pete didn't seem to notice.

"Anyway, isn't it amazing?" asked Pete, touching the tanks. "KaibaCorp's holographic systems." He gave them a nasty grin. "Heck, neither of you even noticed the Tea Gardner wasn't real up at the school."

Joey clenched his fists. "I'm gonna trash anyone who tries to take Tea away from us!" he yelled.

Pete grinned. "Ooh, I'm scared," he said. He pointed to a corner. "There's space to duel over there," he added. He walked over, and Joey hesitantly followed. "You're, Joey Wheeler, right?" added Pete. "Your reward money is up to $100 because you beat Klamath. Not to mention that whoever beats you gets to duel Yugi Muto." His disk shifted to duelling mode. "So, as a result, I'm pretty motivated."

"I don't care what your motivation is," replied Joey, his disk shifting to duelling mode. "Let's go!" They drew their starting hands.

"I'll go first!" said Joey.

"Stay cool, man!" called Tristan.

"Yeah, I know," replied Joey. "I play one card facedown. I summon Little Winguard in defence mode!" (1400/1800) An aqua coloured knight appeared, holding his shield in front of him. "Your move," said Joey.

Pete grinned. "You're being pretty cautious," he commented. "My turn." He drew, and slapped a card onto his disk. "I summon Para Mutant in attack mode!" (1800/1500) A large humanoid with a veined cranium appeared on the field. "Then I play one card facedown. And I attack – or maybe not. That's the end of my turn."

Joey steamed. "What was that about?" he yelled. He drew. _Man, it's a slow game._ "I summon Axe Raider!" he called, and a powerful warrior carrying an axe appeared. (1700/1500) "Then I'll equip him with my Legendary Sword! The monster holding this sword gains 300 attack and defence points. So, Axe Raider, draw your Legendary Sword!" Axe Raider now hefted two weapons. "Attack Para Mutant!" he yelled.

"I play a facedown!" yelled Pete as Axe Raider charged. "Gem of Lycanthropy! I simply sacrifice a monster, and Lycanthrope (2400/1600) is summoned!" Para Mutants exposed skin became covered in fur, and its head transformed into snarling wolf jaws. "You're also forced to attack it!" yelled Pete, and Lycanthrope smashed its claws into Axe Raider, reducing Joey's life points to 3600. "Not only that," commented Pete. "Lycanthrope dishes out 200 points of damage for every normal monster in my graveyard!" Joey cursed, his life points dropped to 3400.

"You gotta think this through!" yelled Tristan. "Don't just jump in head first!"

"Listen to your friend," said Pete, but Joey just growled at him.

_I gotta relax _thought Joey. _It's gonna be all right._ "I play this card facedown and end my turn!" He looked across at Pete. "Bring it on!"

Pete just drew with a smirk. _What a dope. Hmm, two facedown cards. Well, maybe I'll check them out just in case._ He slid a card into his disk. "I activate a spell card from my hand. All-Seeing Eye will allow me to see all your facedown cards!"

Joey was too shocked to even protest, so Pete just thought out loud. "Relentless Assault won't be a problem as long as I can dodge to initial attack, and your only monster has 1400 attack points. Not much. But Chasm of Spikes is a no-go; I can't attack with my Lycanthrope. So, what do I do?"

Joey frowned. _Oh, brother. It's kinda embarrassing to have him see everything I've got._

"I know!" called Pete holding up a card. "First I'll play a facedown card. And then I'll sacrifice my Lycanthrope, and here comes an advanced psychokinetic, Mutant Mindmaster!" (0/2500) The new monster was a skinny creature in sage-style clothes, with strange projections on the sides of its head.

Joey gave him a blank look. _He sacrificed his 2300 point Lycanthrope to summon this zero attack point Mutant Mindmaster?_

"Joey, if he sacrificed the stronger monster, then he must be up to something," warned Tristan.

_Yeah, he knows that I've got my Chasm of Spikes_ thought Joey. _Even if its attack points are zero I have to be careful._

Pete grinned. "Get ready for Mutant Mindmaster's attack" he called. "Telekinetic Hand Force!" Ghostly hands reached out from Mutant Mindmaster, and grabbed Little Winguard. Before Joey could react, it turned to face him. "Little Winguard attacks you directly!" Pete yelled, and Joey yelled as his life points hit 2000. Pete laughed crazily. "Don't worry. You'll get it back. But so that you can't prepare for that again I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Chasm of Spikes!" A whirlwind tore the card apart. "I end my turn."

"My move!" yelled Joey furiously. _Wait a minute!_ He grinned. _Humph, that was dumb. Mutant Mindmaster's attack points are zero, and he's left it in attack mode!_ "I'm ready Pete!" he called. "First I'll play this card facedown. Then I sacrifice my Little Winguard for Divine Knight Ishzark!" (2300/1800) A massive knight garbed in holy armour, and carrying a massive sword appeared in front of Joey.

Pete was impressed. "Wow," he said.

"Attack Mindmaster, Ishzark!" yelled Joey. _If this attack hits I can use Relentless Assault to take out most of his life points!_ He didn't notice Pete laughing. Ishzark's sword struck – Pete. "What?" yelled Joey as Pete's life points dropped to 1700.

"Too bad" said Pete. "I used my Teletemporate spell card to teleport Mindmaster to my next turn! And now that your monster didn't destroy another, you can't combo with Relentless Assault." He chuckled. "And you've summoned a powerful monster in front of Mindmaster." Then Pete burst into crazed cackles. "So one my next turn you'll lose by Ishzark's own hand!" he screamed. "My turn! Let's wrap this up!" Mutant Mindmaster reappeared with a grim look on its face. "Attack!"

"Joey," whispered Tristan.

Joey gulped. _Aw man! If Ishzark hits me I'm done for!_

Mutant Mindmaster's hands reached out – and contacted nothing.

"No way!" screamed Pete.

"I used my Graverobber to take your Teletemporate!" yelled Joey.

Pete could only gape in shock. "I play Dian Keto the Cure Master!" he screamed, and his life points increased to 2700.

"Sorry, Pete but it won't be enough!" yelled Joey. "Ishzark reappears in my turn!"

Ishzark appeared again and charged. "Go!" yelled Joey, and Ishzark cleaved through Mutant Mindmaster. "And just as a bonus!" added Joey. "The monsters that Ishzark defeats are removed!" He touched the button on his disk. "And now my combo you foresaw!"

Pete was sweating, his life points at 400. "No way."

"Go Relentless Assault!" yelled Joey. "Ishzark attacks with Breakdown Distortion!"

The knight sliced downwards, smashing Pete into the ground.

Joey grinned, and snapped his fingers, high fiving Tristan with his other hand. "You're the one that got careless and lost his cool over the illusion of victory!"

**I beat this out pretty quickly. Phew. **

**Its Friday, so I'll have another chapter up soon! Don't you guys think that Pete has a Sonic the Hedgehog hairstyle? C'mon, he does! One of my new favourite R cards Relentless Assault appeared in this chapter! I know I made it for warriors, and I'm a WATER Dinosaur user, but it's still an awesome name!**

**Next chapter, Yugi faces off against a rather surprising card professor – only to find something unexpected at the end of the duel!**

**Review please guys!**


	7. Dweller in the Darkness!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Another rapid-fire chapter! This will probably be the last for now, for reasons that will become obvious at the end of the chapter. And one of my favourite monsters coming out in Galactic Overlord soon has had its English name revealed; Number 32: Shark Drake! I'm so happy**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. **

**NoviceNovelist: Thanks mate. You have no idea how much this kind of praise means to me. Keith vs. Joey won't be up for a while, but it should be awesome; it's a duel I'm looking forward to lengthening. Actually, speaking of that, read the beginning of Chapter Four again, and sees what you notice. Don't forget, I can take too much credit for this – I'm simply adapting the work of the two gentlemen I mentioned above. Heh-Heheheh-Heheheh.**

_Dweller in the Dark!_

An old woman was sitting in one of the KaibaCorp Buildings fancy social rooms. It was one of those kinds with trees, a top wing, and a massive window overlooking the night sky.

She picked up her teacup. "Finally he's here," she said with a tiny laugh.

"Access Denied."

Yugi Muto looked at the card in surprise. "Hmm. Guess it doesn't work. Well, I guess I can't go any further with this card." He checked around the room. "Then I suppose it's time to face another card professor. But I don't see one here." He saw the old woman, her back turned to him, sitting in a wheelchair. "I'll ask her."

But he couldn't help that a thought was nagging at him. _I thought most of the KaibaCorp employees were evacuated. Maybe she came from outside?_ "Um, excuse me?" he asked politely.

The old woman smiled. "Oh, good evening," she replied.

"Good evening," said Yugi in turn. "Um, have you seen a duelist – I mean, anyone wearing something like this on their arm?" he asked, gesturing to his duel disk.

"No, I don't think so," replied the old woman. "Are you looking for a duelist?" she asked.

"Oh," said Yugi in surprise. "So you know about Duel Monsters?"

She tittered. "Don't treat me like an old woman," she said, turning her chair to face him. "My grandchildren love Duel Monsters. We play it together. Kids are so fast at picking things up," she said. "If you don't know how good each child is, they can get upset and cry."

Yugi laughed. "Yeah, I imagine they can be a lot of work."

"I guess I don't have to be so careful with you," replied the old woman.

Yugi gasped in surprise. _What?_

Suddenly a slot opened on the side of the wheelchair. A long board shot out of it, and flipped around so that it sat on the old woman's knees. The board had five T-shaped zones, each with a slot underneath them, a bow compartment, and another slot beside it, and finally a gap in a circular structure holding a deck of Duel Monsters cards.

_Is that a duel disk_? thought Yugi in amazement.

"That's right; you've found the duelist that you're looking for, me! Card professor Mrs. Maico Kato."

"You're a duelist!" yelped Yugi.

"Why so surprised?" she replied.

Yugi clenched his fists, and the Millennium Puzzle shone, switching in Yami Yugi. "Great," he said. "It's time to duel!"

Facing off, they drew their starting hands. Yugi looked across at Mrs. Kato. _It's almost strange to fight against an opponent sitting down, and using what's practically a table after all this time, _he thought to himself. He drew. "I'll summon my Big Shield Gardna in defence mode!" cried Yugi, and a dark haired man that was carrying a massive shield crouched in front of him. (100/2600) _Let's see how she handless my Gardna's 2600 defence points! _"I end my turn."

"My turn," said Mrs. Kato. She selected a card. "I summon Spirit Leprechaun in attack mode!" (400/200) she cried. A tiny sprite with one large shoe on his right foot appeared with a giggle.

Yugi was wary. _She summoned a weak monster in attack mode. Hmm._

"Next, I equip my Spirit Leprechaun with Poison Crossbow! This equip spell allows low level monsters to destroy other monsters without calculating the damage!" A nasty green crossbow appeared in the hands of Spirit Leprechaun. "Attack Big Shield Gardna with Poison Arrow!" called Mrs. Kato. "It eats away at that monster, rendering it helpless!" laughed Mrs. Kato. "I'll also play the Deep Forest field spell and end my turn."

A massive forest appeared on the field, leaving Yugi and Mrs. Kato in a clearing.

"Well, it looks like you _are_ a real duelist," commented Yugi.

Mrs. Kato laughed. "I'm happy to hear that from the King of Games himself," she replied. "Now what should I buy my grandchildren when I win the cash reward?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Maico," said Yugi. "But you're supporting the wrong cause. Why are you even working for Yako, and do you know why he asked you to stop me? But in any case, I'll be the one that wins this duel!" He drew. "It's my turn! I play two cards facedown, and summon King's Knight!" (1600/1400) he called, and the bearded red knight appeared. "Attack the Spirit Leprechaun!"

But the little creature turned and fled into the forest.

"What?" protested Yugi. Mrs. Kato smiled.

"Simple, any four star or below monster that is a beast cannot be attacked while my Deep Forest is on the field," commented Mrs. Kato. "A small spirit like that can hide him easily.

Yugi was thunderstruck. _Her field spell prevents the monsters from being attacked. And she can also snipe at her opponents strong monsters with the Poison Crossbow. That is one strong combination!_

"My turn," said Mrs. Kato, drawing a card. "I play a facedown card, and Leprechaun attacks with its Poison Arrow!" The arrow smashed into King's Knight, withering it.

_Forgive me, King's Knight,_ thought Yugi sadly.

Mrs. Kato tittered. "Well, well, you once again have no monsters on the field."

"Yes, but thanks to you, I got Spirit Leprechaun when it attacked!" called Yugi. "My Spellbinding Illusion negates its effect, and reduces its attack points by 500!" The ugly little creature was squirming in a vain attempt to break free from the circle that had just trapped it, its attack points at zero. "And," Yugi added. "When targeted by a continuous effect, your Leprechaun cannot hide in the forest!"

"Oh dear," said Mrs. Kato.

Yugi drew. "Now I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts! And he destroys Spirit Leprechaun!" Gazelle charged, slicing the sneering spirit in two, and dropping Mrs. Kato to 2500 life points.

But she just tittered.

"What's so funny Mrs. Maico?" asked Yugi angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied. "Can't you hear the weeping of the woods, pining for the fairy?"

Yugi could, and he looked around in shock, as Mrs. Kato's life points dropped to 1500. Then a massive roar echoed through the forest, and a massive shape emerged from the trees.

It was a huge green ape carrying a club. (2600/1800)

"When a beast monster is destroyed, then at a cost of 1000 life points, Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest is summoned from my hand," said Mrs. Kato. "It appears to get revenge."

Yugi groaned. _That thing has 2600 attack points! Gazelle's way out of his league. Wait! The Deep Forest, Gazelle can hide in it too! Maybe I can get through this!_

Tittering, Mrs. Kato drew. "I know that Gazelle can hide in my Forest," she said. "So I'll play this spell card, Chameleon Colours!" Green Baboon began to disappear. "Now my Baboon, a beast type, can blend into the scenery during this turn," said Mrs. Kato. "Attack!"

Yugi looked around, and then he was knocked to the ground as Green Baboon smashed him with its club, dropping him to 1400 life points.

"Now it's your turn," said Mrs. Kato.

Yugi drew, sweating. _I've got to do something about this forest, or else I won't be able to win! And I'll lose my only chance of saving Tea!_ He looked at the card he'd drawn. "Perfect! Only this card can take don that forest!" he yelled. "By sacrificing Gazelle, I summon Archfiend of Gilfer!" (2200/2500)

Mrs. Kato was a little surprised. _That monster is weaker then my Baboon._

"Next I play a spell card. Flames of the Archfiend! My Archfiend of Gilfer will lead you into the fire, and destroy your field spell!"

Mrs. Kato tittered. "Just as I thought. You're trying to remove my field spell."

"I reverse the destruction spell with Curse of Royal!" they both yelled.

Mrs. Kato gasped. _What?_

Yugi winked, waggling his finger. "I knew you'd be aware of me next move. So I counter and negate your destruction effect of Curse of Royal. So now, Flames of the Archfiend still works!" he finished. Archfiend of Gilfer raised its arms, gathering fire. "Archfiend of Gilfer!" yelled Yugi. "Bring forth the deepest flames! Scorching Flame!" The fire swirled around the field, burning anything it touched. "First it burns all the field spells," said Yugi, and the Forest smoked into ash. "Secondly it burns all non-Archfiend monsters, and they lose 1000 attack points." he added. "And finally we each take 1000 points of damage!"

The fires faded, leaving Yugi with 400 life points and Mrs. Kato with 500. Green Baboon was smoked and burnt, down to 1600 attack points. But Archfiend of Gilfer still stood strong.

"Burn her Green Baboon!" yelled Yugi. "Archfiend of Gilfer attacks with Gilfer Flame!"

Mrs. Kato smiled calmly as her life points hit zero.

"Despite what you stood for," said Yugi. "I'm glad to have met and duelled you."

"Me too," replied Mrs. Kato. "Oh, my grandchildren will love this story. But I'm not sure what lies ahead," she said, lowering her head.

The lights of the upper walkway switched on. Two men stood up there, and Yugi recognised both of them. One was a grey haired bearded man in a dark suit, Pegasus' sunglasses toting manservant, Croquet.

The other was a man wearing a closed white coat and pants under a heavy maroon coat, with silvery hair that came down to his back, and bangs that were half as long.

_That's. . . Yako Tenma! _thought Yugi in shock.

**We're playing with the big boys now, dun-dun.**

**Yako has returned, but his wishes seem ambiguous, despite his assurances. But he plots to unleash another Wicked God deck upon Yugi - one he calls perfect!**

**The next chapter will be written pretty quickly, but it won't be up for a few days. I can't seem to limit myself to a week, especially when I get such glowing reviews!**

**So, please review, and I shall be motivated to churn out more chapters!**


	8. A Fearsome God Descends!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**An important chapter. I mean, just look at the title. It's scarier than seeing an All Black coming at you full pace, and more terrifying then being an orc mage against a Gondorian Warrior. Okay, not really, but you get the message. The next few will be mixed up from the original order, and I haven't decided how to mix them yet, so they might be a while in coming. Think similar to the mix of Kirk vs. Yugi and Klamath vs. Joey.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. I'm just breathing the life of the anime community into it!**

_A Fearsome God Descends!_

Yami Yugi stood looking at Yako Tenma in shock.

_That's no hologram! He's got a duelist aura – I can tell that he's the real thing! Yako Tenma!_

As Yugi turned and ran up the stairs, Mrs. Maico Kato sat there thinking to herself. _Be prepared, King of Games. We call him the Perfect Duelist._

Yugi rounded the corner at the top of the stairs.

"Yako!" he yelled furiously.

Yako sat there smiling, an empty cup of tea and a deck of Duel Monsters cards on the table in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Yugi. "This isn't the penthouse!"

Yako closed his eyes and smiled. "That's right. We're only halfway up," he said. He opened his eyes. "I've watched you duel. You were brilliant. The card professors we prepared for you are now down to seven."

Yugi grinned. _So Joey's winning as well._

_Course I am, _he could almost hear Joey say.

"So why now?" asked Yugi. "What did you come here for?"

Yako closed his eyes with a soft snort. "When we duelled on top of the school rooftop, my Wicked Avatar card was still new, and my deck and strategies weren't well prepared yet."

Yugi rolled his eyes. _That_ had been an understatement.

Yako got to his feet. "So I wanted another try," he explained. He gestured to his deck that was lying on the table. "This is my latest deck. I like to think it's perfect." He picked it up softly. "Would you like to duel this deck and me?" he asked.

_What? _thought Yugi. _The latest Wicked Avatar deck?_

"Ah," said Yako. "If you're thinking about the challenge of fighting your way up to the top of the building, just think of this as a simple, unconnected duel. The outcome means nothing to your progress." He waved his finger. "So I'll make you an offer. If you beat me I will let you see Tea Gardner."

_Tea!_ thought Yugi in horror. "Is she all right Yako? Tell me now!"

"She's doing fine," said Yako. "If I win, I want your Egyptian God cards."

Yugi had expected as much._ My whole life has been revolving around those cards, ever since that visit to the museum. But what's Yako up to, those duels with the card professors weren't meaningless._

"What do you say?" said Yako.

Yugi growled. "All right. I'll take you on!" he yelled.

Yako smiled. _Heheheh. That's the spirit Pharaoh. As the King of Games you have no choice but to duel when faced with an enemy. _"Okay then. Escort us to the Battle Stage Mr. Croquet."

Croquet bowed. "Yes, sir." He pushed a set of doors wide, leading them into a mini theatre. At the stage, Yugi and Yako stood opposite one another, and Croquet in the middle. Yugi shrugged off his coat; it was hot in the theatre. Under his coat, his ensemble was the same, but he'd started wearing some Egyptian bracelets on his upper arms in accordance with his heritage and connections. Despite the heat, Yako kept his heavy coat on, slipping on his disk.

"Good luck, Master Tenma," said Croquet with a bow.

The duel disks of the two duelists shifted to duelling mode, and they drew their five-card hands.

"I'm ready Tenma!" yelled Yugi. "Duel!"

"I draw," said Yugi. He selected two cards. "I play one card facedown! I summon Queen's Knight in defence mode!" (1500/1600) The red armoured female knight appeared, crouching with her shield in front of her. "That ends my turn."

Yako sniffed. "One of your fast summon swordsmen; King, Queen and Jack. Unfortunately that's already a thing of the past," he commented. He drew, and selected a card. "You're about to see the latest fast summon monster!" he called. "I summon Summoner Monk in defence mode!" (800/1600)

A blue-robed old man appeared, with a light strip along his cuff and the middle of his entire robe. His eyes were closed, but Yugi felt something radiating from the monster.

"Summoner Monk chants once every turn," commented Yako. "It converts a spell card from my hand into a chant that allows me to summon a four star monster from my deck each turn! Now chant!" he yelled as he discarded a De-Spell, and the Monk began to sing, eerie notes pouring from its mouth. "I summon Seraphim Saber from my deck!" called Yako, and an angel garbed in shining armour over a deep blue cloak appeared, holding a long sword that glowed bright white. (1600/1500) Yako smiled. "Unfortunately, monsters summoned by Summoner Monk can't attack during the turn they are summoned. So I'll play one card face down and end the turn."

Yugi drew, shocked at the ease that Yako had summoned two monsters. _If I can't bring it down, then he's going to summon two more monsters next turn. _"I play another card facedown!" called Yugi. "And I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior and attack Summoner Monk!" he yelled. (1700/1600) Beta appeared and charged, but it went straight through Summoner Monk and smashed into Yako, dropping him to 2300 life points.

Yako snorted. "I activated my facedown card. The trap card Astral Shift! Not only do I take the damage intended for my Monk, but I get to draw a card!" He drew, smiling. "I can't let you destroy Summoner Monk yet," he said.

Yugi cursed. _He's protecting the Monk by sacrificing his own life points. If this continues he'll have all the monsters he needs easily! This deck really is the fastest summoning deck!_

"My turn," said Yako, drawing. "First I'll play a card face down." Then he discarded a Back to Square One. "Summoner Monk, chant!" he called. The Monk's eerie notes spewed forth as Yako searched his deck. "I summon Seraphim Gardna in defence mode from my deck!" (1000/2000) he called. A white heavy armoured angel appeared, clutching a blue shield. "And I summon Seraphim Blaster from my hand!" (1800/1200) added Yako, summoning another white armoured angel wearing a blue cloak over its armour and two large blaster barrels of celestial bronze.

"With the special ability of each Seraphim, each one gains more attack or defence points for every other fairy in play!" called Yako, Gardna went up to 2600 defence points, Blaster went up to 2400 attack points, and Saber went up to 2200 attack points.

"Now I'm ready, Yugi!" yelled Yako. I attack with Seraphim Saber! Rip apart Beta the Magnet Warrior!" he yelled. Saber charged, only for Yugi to act. "I activate my facedown card, Spellbinding Circle! By preventing your monster from attacking, I can protect my Magnet Warrior!" called Yugi. The hexagram circle ensnared Yako's monster.

"But Seraphim Blaster's attack has yet to come!" yelled Yako. "Smash Queen's Knight to pieces! Forbidden Blast!" Blaster let loose a torrent of holy light that burned Yugi's Queen's Knight away with a scream. As the smoke cleared, Yako assessed the situation. "You let the Magnet Warrior survive as opposed to the Knight. I thought you needed the knight to call up an Egyptian God card. Have you made a mistake? It's so unlike you."

Yugi snorted. "The Egyptian Gods are powerful, Yako. But you'll find that their cost is a heavy one!" He touched a button on his disk. "I pay 1000 life points to activate Soul Rope! I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior from my deck!" he yelled. (1400/1700) The grey magnet warrior appeared, brandishing its weapons. "Now it's my turn and I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior!" he called. The pink, spherical magnet warrior appeared, stretching its wings.

_Heheheh, a transforming monster, _thought Yako.

"Now I've got Alpha, Beta and Gamma on the field!" called Yugi. I combine my three magnet warriors!" he yelled, and they split, the feet and wings of Gamma slamming into the body of Alpha, which dropped its shield. The sides of Beta's head slammed into that of Gamma, while the head spike of alpha covered Gamma's own. Then the combined head dropped onto the body of the new warrior. Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!" yelled Yugi. (3500/3850) "Valkyrion attack your Summoner Monk with Magnet Saber!"

The massive magnet warrior drove its sword into the cringing Monk, shattering it.

_It's too late to destroy the Monk, _thought Yako, unconcerned. _I've got everything I need to call up a Wicked God card!_

_There are still three monsters on his side of the field, _Yugi thought. _He can summon the Wicked Avatar next turn._ "I play one card facedown to end my turn." _I still haven't figured out just what Wicked Avatar is capable of. But even if it's as powerful as my Obelisk the Tormentor, I can push the attack points of Valkyrion up to 4200 with my Rush Recklessly._

Yako raised his hand. "My turn and I draw!" he called.

Yugi just stared across the field, waiting for the result.

Yako trembled for a second. "No. Yako, don't," he whispered, though Yugi didn't catch the words. Then he regained his composure. "Heheheh. Do you feel it Yugi? The ultimate fear!"

Yugi blanched. _Ah. He's got a Wicked God card in his hands?_

"I offer three sacrifices to the abyss!" screamed Yako, sweating. The Seraphim vanished in a dark tornado, and red lightning surged forth. "Wicked God! Come forth!" Yako cried.

"I summon the Wicked Dreadroot!" (4000/4000)

A massive form arose among the red lightning. It was a colossal aqua skinned giant with bone framed shoulders, wings, thighs and biceps. It had a face similar to that of Obelisk the Tormentor, but with two fangs jutting out of its lower jaw, and instead of a majestic crest, a gaping demonic skull with ram horns.

"Fierce Knockdown!" Yako yelled, and Dreadroot charged, slamming the bone spurs of its wrist guards into Valkyrion the Magna Warrior. Yugi just stood there, thunderstruck.

_Another Wicked God card? Wicked Dreadroot!_

**Yeah, that was always going to happen. The duel between Yugi and Yako will be updated slowly (for me anyway) so the next chapter will probably be three days away. **

**And of course Wicked Dreadroot is one badass mother. When he is on the field, everyone else is literally a wimp. Not kidding, just wait for the effect explanation. The Wicked Gods might have been created to beat the Egyptian Gods – but both can beat the other. Dreadroot, for example, will always beat Obelisk in straight out battle. Obelisk's special ability will monster Dreadroot. I'll continue the comparisons next chapter. But, continuing on with Dreadroot, if you think he's bad now (as he has card effect immunities just like the Egyptian Gods in this fic), just wait until you see the next chapter. It is literally a frigging **_**nightmare.**_** I am NOT joking. Think the worst duelling scenario you've ever been in. This could kick those situations asses.**

**Review please bro's!**


	9. A World Ruled by Terror!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**This is another important chapter. I mean, just look at the title. It's scarier than seeing an All Black coming at you full pace, and more terrifying then being an orc mage against a Gondorian Warrior. Okay, not really, but you get the message. The next few will be mixed up from the original order, and I haven't decided how to mix them yet, so they might be a while in coming. Think similar to the mix of Kirk vs. Yugi and Klamath vs. Joey.**

**Blame me for the length of time it took to get this up. I mean, I wasn't going to miss the Galactic Overlord Sneak Peek! Not when I got hold of Number 32!**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art. **

_A World Ruled by Terror!_

Joey and Tristan raced down the corridor, when suddenly they heard a massive, muffled, roar.

"What's that noise?" asked Tristan in shock.

Joey could instinctively tell. "It's a God card. Yugi must've summoned a God card!" he said in shock.

Tristan knew what Joey was thinking. "Is his opponent really that strong?"

Joey frowned. Something didn't feel right. _What's goin' on? _he thought to himself. _Something feels real bad. _"Let's hurry up and get up there!" yelled Joey. _You better win this one, Yugi._

They rounded the corner, and were hit with a view of the night sky. They'd arrived at a set of windows, but that wasn't what stopped them

It was the muscular man wearing a turban, long pants and a sleeveless trench coat over his bare chest.

Yako Tenma stood before the motionless body of Tea Gardner, who shook violently and glowed with a bright light. He chuckled as he revelled in his work. "This is it!" he yelled. "This energy!" He threw his arms wide. "Excellent! The Project's just advanced to the next Phase!"

He laughed madly. "Come forth, Wicked God! Unleash your power to the fullest!"

The massive bone spurred form of the Wicked Dreadroot burst out of the ground in front of Yami Yugi. Yugi could only gasp in shock, the eyes of the Wicked Dreadroot held no kindness - the Egyptian Gods had a certain nobility and gentleness when on your side, but this Wicked God expressed none of that.

The only thing it exuded was fear and terror. It poured out in waves from the colossus that appeared to be roaring and snarling at the same time, thanks to the gaping fiendish ram skull that enclosed its face.

_So there's another Wicked God besides the Wicked Avatar? _thought Yugi. _The Wicked Dreadroot!_

In front of him, he could see Yako fighting to stay upright, sweat pouring down his face.

"And now," said Yako. "Wicked Dreadroot, destroy him! Fierce Knockdown!"

"I activate my facedown card!" countered Yugi. "Rush Recklessly!" Valkyrion glowed as its attack points rose. "Valkyrion the Magna Warrior's attack strength increases by 800 points!"

Dreadroot continued to come towards Valkyrion, and smashed its fist into it, breaking it into pieces.

_That's impossible! _thought Yugi. _Valkyrion the Magna Warrior was destroyed?_

Yako laughed. _This is the Wicked Dreadroot, the root of all terror! _

"Fear Domination!" said Yako. "The Wicked Dreadroot," he explained, "spreads an aura of fear in its presence. The attack and defence points of all monsters except for Wicked Gods are decreased by half." He grinned. "Even with the bonus from Rush Recklessly, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior only had 2450 attack points!"

Yugi could see _that_. His life points had decreased to 1450.

Yako laughed as he set a card facedown. "Yugi Muto! Fall on your knees before the terror of the Wicked God!" He burst into insane laughter.

The man standing in front of Joey groaned, face-palming himself. "Oh, brother. _Somebody_ owes me for this. Man." He looked up, hands shaking. "The bounty on Yugi Muto's gone up to $200,000, and I coulda gotten all that after one duel!" He wiped his face. "I've been waiting here a good long time, and who finally shows up? _You_ cheap punks."

"What!" yelled Joey.

The man continued with a sigh. 'Heck, your current bounty is what, $200? That's not even pocket money. Man, I can't get into this."

Joey lost it. _"You jerk! That's right, just keep bragging! We'll see who's after I kick your –"_

Tristan cut him off mid sentence. "You sure talk big, buddy. If this is too much work for you, just hand over the key card and we'll be on our way."

The man looked up. "Moron! Like it's gonna be that easy!" He grinned. "You guys have caused me trouble just by being here, but when I collect your crummy bounty, I'll also win the right to fight the King of Games. I'll just suck it up and duel for that."

Joey, seeing an opening started yelling. "_You think it's gonna be that easy? I'll beat you anywhere, anytime! Let's duel!"_

The man sneered. "Little punk thinks he's a big shot!"

Joey was ready to beat the stuffing out of the guy, but Tristan held him back. "Easy, Joey! He's just trying to get you riled up. That's his strategy."

"'Strategy?'" asked the man. "What're you talking about? You're nothing but the warm-up before my fight with the King of Games. Who needs strategy? Our duel is just a chance for me to look over my cards," he finished, laughing.

Joey looked at him in disgust. "You asked for it," he warned.

"Don't you dare lose this one!" warned Tristan.

"Don't worry," replied Joey. "I'll kick this jerk's butt!"

The man burst out laughing. "What made you so confident, huh?" he asked. "You're freakin' hilarious!"

Joey went up in flames.

"I'm Mendo Cino," said the man. "I'm a card professor. Bring it on you dollar store duelist!" he yelled.

"It's time to duel!" they yelled, drawing their five-card hands.

Cino laughed. "I'll go first," he said drawing. "First I play one card facedown!" he called. "And then I summon Praying Mantis in attack mode!" he added, and a green mantis with a scythe-like set of arms and a praying set appeared (1500/1200) "Guess I'll let you off with that," Cino said.

"Get ready!" yelled Joey. "It's my turn!" he yelled as he drew. "And I'm gonna rip that wimpy monster apart!" he added as he selected a card. "I play one card facedown and I summon Blue Flame Swordsman in attack mode!" he yelled, and a blue version of Joey's old Flame Swordsman appeared (1800/1600) "Blue Flame Swordsman attacks!" yelled Joey, and the warrior charged.

Cino grinned. "I activate my Compulsory Evacuation Device!" he yelled. "Your monster's taking the express lane back to your hand!" he yelled, and sure enough, the Blue Flame Swordsman disappeared. Cino laughed at Joey. "What's the matter? No monsters to defend you?" He drew with a smirk. "Here I come!" he yelled. "Praying Mantis, direct attack! Hardened Saber!" The mantis charged, slicing at Joey and dropping him to 2500 life points. Cino smiled. "Well now, I think it's about time I showed you how awesome this deck is." He selected a card. "I activate the continuous spell card Labour Pain!" he yelled. "With this card, whenever either of us summons a new monster we have to pay 1000 life points."

Joey blanched. _1000 life points when we summon a monster? That's nuts!_

Cino laughed. "Better pick your monsters carefully, because they're gonna cost you 1000 life points." He held up another card. "Sure, paying all those life points is a pain for me too, but that's where this card comes in!" He slipped a card into his field zone. "Because I have a mantis on the field, I can activate the field spell card Mantis Egg!" A massive egg sac appeared. Cino grinned. "This will produce a mantis each turn!" he said. "This way I can summon monsters without being affected by Labour Pain!"

Joey swallowed. _And if that's not bad enough, I don't have any monsters on the field! That egg's gonna make it real easy for him to get monsters on the field for sacrifices!_

Cino grinned. "I play one more card facedown and I'll end my turn for ya. There ya go! It's your turn. Come on, give me your best shot!" he yelled.

"My turn," said Joey, drawing. It was Scapegoat. _Darn it _he thought. _If I could at least draw Giant Trunade that would send all our spell and trap cards back to our hands._ "Arrgggh," he groaned. "I'll pay 1000 life points and summon Blue Flame Swordsman in defence mode!" he said, his life points dropping to 1500. _It's too risky to attack. _"I'll also play one more card facedown and end my turn."

Cino grinned as he looked at his Compulsory Evacuation Device trap on the field. "My turn!" he called, drawing. "The Mantis Egg produces a Baby Mantis Token!" he added, and a white mantis crawled out of the egg. (500/100) Cino smiled. "Now I've got two mantises to sacrifice!" he called. "So I'll pay 1000 life points and sacrifice Praying Mantis and Baby Mantis Token!" he added, his life points dropping to 3000.

The two mantises vanished and in their place appeared a massive green armoured insect warrior, similar to a centaur, but with a mantis body in place of a horse. It clutched a massive scythe in its clawed hands. (2300/1600) "I summon Dreadscythe Harvester!" called Cino.

"Aw, come on!" protested Joey. "You only paid 1000 life points and you get an eight star monster?"

"Dreadscythe Harvester!" yelled Cino. "Cut down his Blue Flame Swordsman!"

"Go, Scapegoat!" countered Joey. Four little sheep, each one a different colour appeared in front of him. Cino sighed. "Your Blue Flame Swordsman still bites the dust!" he called.

"Yeah, and when he does, he summons the original Flame Swordsman to the field!" replied Joey as the Flame Swordsman appeared and slashed the air. (1800/1600)

Cino snorted. "So _now_ you put up a fight? Fine. I end my turn."

Joey drew, praying to get something to work with. He swallowed, and placed the card facedown. "End of my turn," he explained.

Cino was laughing. "Looks like you can only prolong the inevitable," he observed. "My turn," he added, drawing. "The Mantis Egg produces another Baby Mantis Token!" he said, and another immature mantis climbed out. "Now I'll take down your Flame Swordsman with my Harvester, and one of those sheep with my Baby Mantis!" he yelled, and the two mantises sliced through their targets. Cino laughed. "You've only got three sheep left there! You can only last so long!" he commented. "So, is that all you had? No secret backup master plan? No? No?" He smiled. "Still, for a low grade duelist, you didn't do too badly. Give yourself a pat on the back, dude!" he laughed.

Joey angrily drew. _I can't let this end when he's making fun of me like that!_ He looked at his card and grinned. "I play Cross Shift!" he called. "This card allow me to send one monster to the graveyard to summon on with less attack points that has four stars or lower from my hand!" He selected a card. "I trade out a Scapegoat for my Swordsman of Landstar!" (500/1200) he yelled. He selected another card. "I pay 1000 life points to sacrifice my Swordsman and I summon Jinzo!" he yelled. (2400/1500) The green armoured psycho shocker appeared on the field, chuckling coldly. "Now his special power prevents us from activating any traps!" yelled Joey.

Cino swallowed. _Who would have thought this guy would have something like Jinzo in his deck!_

"Good move!" yelled Tristan. "You've got him now Joey!"

"Yeah, I wish," replied Joey.

Cino laughed. "Well, you ain't stupid. Sure, your Jinzo has more attack points, but anytime I want, I can sacrifice an insect to boost my Harvesters attack points by 500 for the rest of the turn." He gestured towards his Baby Mantis. "And I've got one more Baby Mantis Token here thanks to my Mantis Egg," he added. "So, what now, Joey?"

"I end my turn," replied a downcast Joey.

"_That's right!"_ yelled Cino. "_That's the only thing you can do!"_ he screamed with a burst of maniacal laughter.

Yako grinned across the field at Yami Yugi. "I'll play one card facedown and end my turn," he said.

_What a monster _thought Yugi. _No, not just a monster, a God card. And a Wicked God, at that! The Wicked Dreadroot has 4000 attack points, and no matter what I summon, its attack and defence points will be cut in half._ He looked nervously at his hand. _I can't beat him with the cards I have now. _"My turn," said Yugi, drawing.

Yako smiled and chuckled. "So you really think you can defeat a Wicked God? You'd better at least summon a monster to defend yourself or I'll win on the next turn."

Yugi frowned. _All I can do is pin my hopes on this card. _"I activate my Card of Sanctity!" he yelled. "We both draw until we each have six cards in our hands!"

They drew, Yako chuckling at that. "Looks like you've really got a bad hand," he said.

Yugi ignored him, looking over his cards. _Okay! I can do this!_ "I play two cards facedown!" he yelled. "Then by sending one card from my hand to the graveyard I summon the Tricky in defence mode!" (2000 – 1000/1200 – 600)

Yako laughed. "That may be a five star monster, but with its defence points cut in half to 600, it'll barely last this round." He grinned. "Go on. Struggle all you want. It's useless. There's no card in existence that's a match for my God card." Dreadroot roared in agreement.

But Yugi just laughed. "I wonder," he replied. "There's _one_ type of card that the Dreadroot's fear power doesn't affect. One of those cards might be able to take you down!"

At the Japanese border, a bizarre aircraft was flying through the sky.

"We're in Japanese airspace, big brother!" called a boy with black messy hair from the back seat.

The man in front, a tall brown haired man in a sleeveless white studded coat grinned. "Full speed to Domino City!" he yelled, sending the Blue-Eyes White Jet blasting forward.

Yako grimaced. _So he figured it out, did he? _He blanched as he realised what had happened. _No. Don't tell me the card he sent to the graveyard when he summoned the Tricky was _that_ card!_

Yugi held up a card. "Here I come, Tenma!" he roared. "I play _Monster Reborn_!"

"I summon the Winged Dragon of Ra!" (?/?)

A massive form rose up behind Yugi. Dreadroot was powerful, but this creature easily eclipsed its might. A warm glow filled the field and washed away the fear power as the beast was revealed as a mighty golden dragon, with feather–like wings and neck, and quill-like protrusions on its wrists and head. Its massive beak like head was topped with a majestic crest, and between two spikes nestled a sapphire the size of a man, while its red eyes gazed upon its foe with fury.

Ra had risen.

**Okay, the situation that I talked about isn't in this chapter, but it should be in the next one. If you haven't read the manga, then don't before I post my next chapter – the beginning is such a surprise! **

**Good old Ra. Broken down to difficult for the real game, but I'd still use it. It's the freaking Winged Dragon of Ra!**

**So next chapter, Joey continues to struggle against Mendo Cino's insects (I think that's the last insect deck), while Yugi faces a situation which seems impossible to come out from.**

**No Wicked/Egyptian God comparisons, (because for those who don't know about them, I don't want to spoil them) but Ra will kick the ass of all Wicked Gods with Egyptian God Phoenix – and then lose to the last one. Nothing stops Egyptian God Phoenix (at least not in the anime).**

**Please rate and review!**


	10. Curtains for Joey? Enter Seto Kaiba!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**We probably won't see much of Yugi in this one. But I promise the Dreadroot situation and the big surprise for those who don't have a clue what's happening are here.**

**Blame me for the length of time it took to get this up, once again. I've been under pressure, don't know why. Any suggestions? (Although now that I'm writing again the pressure is lifting!)**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art, the awesome art of the Wicked Gods.**

_A World Ruled by Terror!_

The mighty golden form of the Winged Dragon of Ra rose up on the field behind Yami Yugi in the Battle Stage of KaibaCorp Tower. It faced the Wicked Dreadroot, a monster whose power was formidable, but useless against that of Ra.

"This is the most powerful of the Egyptian God cards!" yelled Yugi. "The Winged Dragon of Ra!"

And as suddenly as it appeared, Ra shredded into wisps, and then it vanished.

_Impossible! _thought Yugi in shock. _Ra . . . vanished?_

Mendo Cino continued to laugh at Joey Wheeler. "You got no choice but to end your turn! Now I'll end the duel on my next turn!" he yelled. He paused, calming down. "But y'know, man, for a low-grade duelist, you did well. Hey, you even freaked me out for a second there, summoning Jinzo like that. But playtime is over, so now just suck it up and lose!" He drew. "My turn!" he yelled. "Mantis Egg produces another Baby Mantis Token!" he yelled. Another immature mantis crawled out. Cino grinned. "I sacrifice both Tokens to increase Dreadscythe Harvester's attack points by 500 for each until the end of the turn!" he called. The massive insect warrior glowed as its attack points shot up to 3300.

"Joey!" cried Tristan in shock.

"Go, Dreadscythe Harvester!" yelled Cino. "Mow down Jinzo!"

"I activate my facedown card!" yelled Joey, as Harvester charged. "Rush Recklessly! This handy car adds 700 points to my Jinzo!" Jinzo, keeping its cool, turned to the side, its attack points rising to 3100.

Cino growled. "Nice try! But Dreadscythe Harvester still has more attack points!" he replied.

Sure enough, the attack bisected Jinzo, dropping it to the floor in pieces, and dropping Joey to 300 life points.

Cino looked at him. "What was that for, huh? Can't you do the math? Or were you just trying to buy more time?" He pointed across the field. "What now, Joey? You don't have enough life points to summon a monster with Labour Pain on the field! So just quit wasting my time – HUH?"

A massive black box had appeared on the field behind Joey, wreathed in smoke.

"Yeah, sorry," replied Joey. "I wouldn't want to waste your 'time'."

The machine opened, and out stepped the mighty form of Jinzo.

"I activated my Time Machine trap card!" explained Joey. "I brought back Jinzo to save it! And now, your turn ends! Without his power boost, Dreadscythe Harvester doesn't stand a chance!" He drew. "It's my turn now!" he yelled as he drew.

Cino was in shock. _T-Time Machine! No way, how could he manage to bounce back from the brink of defeat?_

"Go, Jinzo!" yelled Joey. "Get him with a Cyber Energy Shock!" Jinzo formed its lethal blast, and released it at Harvester, shattering it.

Cino growled again, life points at 2900._ I can't believe that I got tricked by a cheap duelist like him! I'm still in this, Joey! _"It's my turn!" he called. "The Mantis Egg produces another Baby Mantis Token! I then pay 1000 life points to summon Guard Mantis in defence mode!" (1000/2400) he yelled, life points dropping to 1900. "I also play Mystic Wok, to sacrifice my Guard Mantis and gain its defence points as life points!" he yelled. His life points increased to 4100. _Even with that boost, that stupid Labour Pain card is hurting me now!_

Joey just laughed. "Oh, man, you shoulda done something useful!" he grinned. "My draw!" he called. "I play a spell card! Monster Reincarnation!" he called. "Now by tossing a card I add one monster from my graveyard to my hand!" he called. "My Blue Flame Swordsman!"

Cino was a bit confused. _What exactly is he trying to do?_

Joey grinned. "I play Monster Reborn," he said.

Cino caught on. _This could hurt a little._

"I bring back my Red Eyes Black Dragon!" yelled Joey. (2400/2000)

A massive form rose behind Joey, a black dragon with a beak like jaw, and a saurian appearance, its glaring red eyes easily visible.

Cino panicked. _First Jinzo, and now the Red Eyes? I-Is this guy really only worth a $200 bounty?_

"Okay, Jinzo!" yelled Joey. Give that Baby Mantis a Cyber Energy Shock!" he yelled. Jinzo blasted the Mantis, causing Cino to scream as his life points dropped to 2400.

"And now, last attack!" yelled Joey. "Red Eyes Black Dragon, attack him directly with Inferno Fire Blast!" he called. Red Eyes blasted a massive torrent of flames at Cino, knocking him down and dropping his life points to zero.

_He's good_ thought Cino in shock. _I can't believe my strategy failed._

"That's what you get for calling me a cheap duelist," said Joey. "_Looks like my 'cheap' bounty was a little too rich for your blood, you smack talking punk – What the heck is that noise?" _he yelled. "Just when I was setting him straight," he muttered.

The he saw the jet flying past the window.

"What?" gasped Cino.

"That jet!" cried Tristan. "It's Kaiba!" he yelled. "Did he come flying all the way back from America?"

Sure enough, the CEO of KaibaCorp was piloting the Blue Eyes White Jet past the building.

"You mean he came flying back here, literally?" asked Joey.

Cino ran up beside them. "Hey! Something's chasing his jet!" he yelled.

In the passenger seat, Mokuba called out to Kaiba. "Big brother, it's still coming after us!" he called. "No radar signal and no heat response! What's going on?" he protested.

Kaiba just peeked behind him and sighed. "Mokuba, expand the heat fans and prepare to hover!"

The thing that was pursuing them swerved, hovering between then and the building. It was a massive dark red dragon with a pure white horn coming out of its forehead. It looked remarkably similar to the Red Eyes in terms of shape, but was smaller overall.

"A dragon?" asked Mokuba. "It's like its guarding the building!"

Kaiba opened the jet cockpit, and leaped out onto the canopy. He fired up his disk. "The KaibaCorp building!" he yelled, "is something that Mokuba and I built together! The monument to the beginning of our dream!" He slotted his deck into his disk. "Don't sully it with your pathetic pseudo dragons, Tenma!" he yelled. He drew a card. "Take a good look!" he yelled, slapping the card onto his disk. "This is the building's true guard dragon! The Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

A massive form, even larger than Joey's Red Eyes, slowly formed. A majestic white dragon with a three-layered crest and sapphire eyes.

Both dragons blasted their attacks at each other, a ball of lighting and a ball of white flame. The attacks collided – and Kaiba leapt back into his jet, and steered it onto the building. He got down, keeping his disk active.

"So that was the famous Blue Eyes White Dragon, huh?" said a voice. The speaker, his own disk active, stepped out of the shadows. "Nice," he said.

He was thin, unhealthily so, with white, long hair spiked up above his head, and with a simple pendant around his neck. "I always wanted to see which was stronger," he admitted. "That or my White-Horned Dragon deck."

"I don't have time to play games with you," said Kaiba. "Get out of my way!"

"Hold your horses, little lord of cards," said the man. "Yako Tenma is the new owner of this building. Even _you_ have to obey house rules. Win and advance, or lose and retreat, if you want to get past me. Let's duel!"

Yugi just stood there, shocked out of his mind. Yako laughed, a facedown card activated beside him.

"Tenma!" yelled Yugi.

Yako chuckled. "That's right, I also had a card ready for you!" he called. "The counter trap card known as the Selection!" he said. "Since a God card was already on the field, Ra's summoning was negated!" He smiled. "You were correct. There is only one type of card that is not affected by the Wicked Dreadroot, and that card is a God card." He smirked at Yugi. "Once summoned it truly is a God, with absolute control over the duel, but before it's summoned, it's only a card." He burst out laughing. "As long as I don't let you summon one, you don't have a chance of fighting my Wicked God!"

Yugi grimaced. _This guy is _good_!_

Croquet applauded in the background. _Yes, perfect_ he thought. _Yugi Muto conquered both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. He truly is an elite duelist. But of all the duelists raised by Master Pegasus, Master Tenma was the only one he ever called perfect. The outcome of this battle is clear!_

"My turn," said Yako. He picked up a card from his hand. "Thank you for letting me reinforce my hand back there," he said. "As a result, this card found its way to me." He held it up, and Yugi felt a surge of power. "The spell card, Divine Evolution!" he yelled. "With this card my Wicked God will evolve and become even stronger!" he called.

Dreadroot turned dark and began to change. In mere moments its new form stood before Yugi, its neck had elongated enough to make the demonic skull seem like its real head, its fingers had become longer and sharper, and its legs had merged into a massive snake trunk.

(5000/5000)

**Yes, that is the current status of the Wicked Dreadroot, that 5000 there. Freaking insane. That situation would be horrible. A mainly destruction immune god with 5000 points apiece, and the ability to halve the attack of any monster. What the freaking hell!**

**I hope that those who have read the original story liked the stick in of Red Eyes Black Dragon. Heh-Heh. Oh, come on, bros, it's as awesome as ghost chips!**

**A personal shout out, if you read this, then read the fic Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightrise, by ardee. It might not seem traditional, but if you want huge fic's, ten this guy is **_**huge.**_** Seriously, he's brilliant.**

**But don't forget about me! Please Rate and Review!**


	11. The Menace of Mist!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Okay, I just realized that the opening of Chapters eight and nine are the same, and have the same title on the page (not officially). Kaiba's back! Now he faces a duelist out to prove that there is a dragon greater than the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!**

**Meanwhile, Yugi faces an impossible situation, against a 5000 attack power Wicked Dreadroot, immune to card effect destruction, and halving the attack points of all other monsters.**

**By the way, imagine that Willa sounds like the English version of Kite Tenjo.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art, the awesome art of the Wicked Gods. Seriously, the Wicked Dreadroot enhanced (the Evil Dreadroot as I'll call it) is awesome.**

_The Menace of Mist!_

Fifteen hours ago, Las Vegas Duel Stadium, the North American Junior Championship Tournament.

"Lookin' good, big brother!" called Mokuba Kaiba from the main box. "This is great promotion for the Kaiba Land project!"

Seto Kaiba nodded from his desk. "Perhaps, but the skill level of these duelists is lower than I expected. We may have to consider creating a facility to train duelists."

"In the past, Master Pegasus planned the same thing."

"Waugh!" yelped Mokuba.

The form of Yako Tenma, in pink coat and maroon mantle, was rising from the floor. His right eye was bulging abnormally, and he had an unmistakable air of confidence.

"You're what's-his-name from Industrial Illusions," remarked Kaiba. "Tenma, was it?"

Yako smiled. "It's been a long time, Kaiba."

Suddenly the Kaiba brothers heard angry murmurs.

"What's going on?" protested a boy. "My monsters just disappeared!"

"Mister Kaiba!" called one of the suits. "The holographic system has stopped functioning! We think there's something wrong with the players duel disks!"

"Impossible!" retorted Kaiba. "All of them at the same time? No system _I_ designed could malfunction like this!" _Unless. . . _"Is this your doing?" he asked Yako.

Yako chuckled. "That it is. I've taken control of the Duel Ring server for a certain Project of mine."

"What?" asked the CEO. "The Duel Ring server?" He seethed furiously. "My contract with your company says that I provide you with the Duel Monsters card expansion data! It does _not_ give you control of my company's duel disk playing system!" he yelled. "That Duel Ring server contains all of KaibaCorp's data and records! I won't allow you to lay a finger on it!"

Yako was already shredding away. "Don't worry. I'll give it back after the Project is complete. Until then. . ." But he'd already vanished.

Kaiba growled under his breath furiously.

"It's no use!" called the technicians. "All the transmissions between the duel disks and the server are being rejected! We can't reach the headquarters!"

Mokuba looked up in shock. "Big Brother," he whispered. "If the transmissions are being interrupted, does that mean what I think it does?"

The CEO nodded. "Yes, it does. There's something going on back at headquarters in Japan." He was troubled, though, by Tenma's attitude. _Tenma seemed completely different from the last time I saw him. _He made his decision. "Come on, Mokuba! We're going!" called Kaiba.

Now, KaibaCorp Apex.

Kaiba stood facing the skinny man that blocked his way. "Hold on. I know you. You're a card professor, aren't you? Your name was . . . ah, that's right. Willa Mette."

Willa grinned. "My my! You know of me?" He laughed, running his hands through his massive crown of hair. "I can't believe the little lord of cards knows my name! What an honour!"

"If I recall," continued Kaiba. "You were a fairly high-ranking member of a group of bounty hunters known as 'The Card Professors' Guild'." You couldn't miss the flippant way that he said this, but Willa kept his cool.

"Wow! I'm famous!" he commented.

Kaiba grinned nastily. "So Tenma has bounty hunters doing his dirty work, does he?" he commented.

"Hey now," protested Willa. "Don't get me wrong here. I'm not one of Tenma's pawns; I just want to get the bounty he's placed on you! Tenma's where the money's at that's all!"

Kaiba wasn't impressed, as he was already far richer then that himself. "So it's all about money? Your greed has blinded you, you hyena."

Willa shrugged, grabbing the light handle. "Hey, you're worth $100,000!" he pointed out. "Pretty nice scratch for one duel, you know?" He flipped the switch with a grin. "If you beat me, you get to go inside. Those are the rules!"

The massive spotlights switched on, but Kaiba ignored them. "So those are Tenma's house rules?" asked the CEO. "I seem to remember saying that I don't have time to humour you people."

Willa smiled. "Come on now, don't be like that. If you don't follow the rules, you never know – they might blow up your precious computer!"

"What!" yelled Kaiba.

Willa pointed at him. "Didn't you know? Tenma's pretty nuts. The way he is now, he might actually do it."

Kaiba was bristling. "Tenma, you swine! Fine! If I have to duel to pass you, then let's duel!" He readied his disk. "Bring it on, you duelling hyena!"

Both of them, disks already ready, drew their hands and fanned out their cards.

"Here I go!" roared Kaiba as he drew. "I play one card facedown! I summon Blade Knight in attack mode!" (1600/1000) A card image, followed by a knight in blue armour appeared on the field. "My turn is over!"

Willa grinned. "My turn! I draw!" he called. "I summon Lancer Dragonute in defence mode!" he called, and a green armoured humanoid dragon appeared, brandishing a spear. (1500/1800) "I also equip it with Mist Body!" added Willa. "That ends my turn!"

Kaiba grinned. "What's wrong? You can't get your precious bounty unless you attack me."

"All in good time," replied Willa. _Come on now, I can't let myself fall into that favourite trap of yours, now, can I?_

"Then I'll come to you!" yelled Kaiba as he drew. "I summon Vorse Raider!" he yelled. (1900/1200) The massive beast warrior with a curved sword (that's right, curved sword) appeared in front of Kaiba. "I'm going to pin you down, Willa!" yelled the CEO. "Vorse Raider attacks Lancer Dragonute!" The bestial warrior carved the dragon in half. "How pitifully easy," commented Kaiba.

Then the shattered pieces of Lancer Dragonute turned white, and began to drift together, forming the whole dragon again.

"What?" protested Kaiba. "Did your dragon just turn into mist?"

"Take a look at his equip spell!" cried Willa. "Mist Body prevents his destruction in battle! Now your monsters can't do a thing to him!"

"You think that'll stop me?" asked Kaiba setting a card. "I play another facedown card on the field and end my turn!" He grinned. _You're doomed anyway. My facedown cards are my Shrink and Crush Card Virus! Attack Vorse Raider, and I will destroy your deck! Attack Blade Knight, and lose your monster! _

"My turn! I draw!" yelled Willa. _Two facedown cards huh? Seto Kaiba, I do believe you've gone and set a trap. _"Well, they don't call you little lord of the cards for nothing. Let me guess. Do you have something planned?" He selected a card in his hand. "I'll summon this guy! Axe Dragonute!" he yelled. (2000/1200) A massive black dragon appeared on the field. "I equip him with Synchronic Ability!" added Willa.

_Did he take my bait? _wondered the CEO.

"Before I attack, I play a spell card!" cried Willa. "Card Hexative!"

Suddenly, much to Kaiba's shock, massive chains wrapped around his two facedowns. "What is this?" he protested.

"This card seals any facedown cards on the field!" called Willa. "They can't be activated!"

Kaiba gritted his teeth. _He's blocked my Crush Card combo!_

Willa laughed. "Well, well, I'm guessing those cards were pretty important. Am I right?"

Kaiba didn't respond.

Willa grinned. "Now I can attack without worrying," he said. "Axe Dragonute! Destroy Blade Knight!" he yelled. The massive dragon cleaved Blade Knight in two, dropping Kaiba down to 3600 life points. "Of course, after such a powerful blow, he's shifted into defence mode! I end my turn with a facedown card!" said Willa.

_How dare you damage me, bounty hunter! _thought Kaiba, enraged. "I draw!" he yelled. "I play one card facedown!" He selected his next card. "You're going to pay for destroying that monster!" he yelled. "I sacrifice Vorse Raider and I summon Kaiser Glider!" (2400/2200)

Appearing on the field was a dragon that to all looked like a juvenile Winged Dragon of Ra.

"Wipe out Axe Dragonute!" yelled Kaiba. Kaiser Glider breathed a mass of fire at the dragon, blasting a hole straight through it.

"Too bad, Kaiba," said Willa. The remains of Axe Dragonute turned white.

_What! Not again!_ groaned Kaiba. _Axe Dragonute turned into mist too?_

Willa burst out laughing. "The Synchronic ability equip spell allows a monster of one type to gain the special abilities of those of the same type currently on the field, as well as the bonuses of their equip cards!" he grinned. "Now he has the mist power of the Mist Body equipped to my dragon type Lancer Dragonute, and the piercing power the Lancer himself possesses, not to mention the bouncing ability of your Kaiser Glider!" He grinned, obviously pleased with himself. "Your deck is a power deck, Seto Kaiba! Designed to overwhelm your opponents with sheer monster power! I made sure that I'd be good and ready for you! It's just one of the great things about this game! You can't just win by having stronger monsters!" He smiled. "Isn't that right, 'little lord of cards'?"

Yami Yugi looked up at the transformed Wicked Dreadroot, the Evil Dreadroot. It had been powerful before, but now he'd need a monster with 10000 base points just to match it!

"In general, attack boosts only last for one turn on God cards," admitted Yako. "But 'Divine Evolution' is an exception, and no card can stop it."

_He has a card designed to power up the God cards?_ thought Yugi in horror. _Is there a chance that I could lose?_

_Heheheh_ thought Yako. _Facing a Wicked God, his body freezes with terror. That's right Yugi, there isn't even a glimmer of hope._ "Let's get rid of that pesky monster. I attack the Tricky with my Evil God!" he yelled. "Fierce Knockdown!"

Dreadroot charged, but the Tricky vanished before the God card could hit it.

_What? _thought Yako in surprise. _The Evil God wasted an attack?_ "You're a very poor loser you know," commented Yako. "Here I am, kindly trying to release you from the terror of the Evil God by defeating you. What other way is there?"

"I guess you'll have to look to my trap card, Soul Barter!" said Yugi. Not only can I cancel your attack, but I can switch my monster out for one with fewer stars from my graveyard!" He raised his hand. "I summon Queen's Knight!" he yelled, and the red armoured female knight sprang onto the field.

"All that will do is delay your defeat by one turn," said Yako.

Yugi got up, having been slumped since Ra had been summoned. "I'm not going to bow to your Evil God card. I have to beat you. I have to save Tea. I refuse to lose!" he roared. He drew. "First I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards!" he yelled. "Then I summon King's Knight!" he called, and the blonde bearded knight in orange armour materialized. (1600/1400) "Now with the King and Queen both on the field," commented Yugi. "I get to summon this card as well. Jack's Knight! To arms" he called. (1900/1000) The blonde, blue armoured Knight appeared.

Yako chuckled. "Planning to summon an Egyptian God card again? That will only work if those three manage to make it through to the next turn, you know. He chuckled. _Even if he does summon a God card, I can use Trap of Darkness to reactivate "The Selection" and wipe out his Egyptian God once again!_

Yugi laughed. "I guess the Egyptian God cards must be a pretty big deal, Yako," he said. He played his next card. "I activate the spell card, Polymerization!"

_What? Polymerization!_ thought Yako. _Wh-what the. . . _

"I fuse the three Knights into the Arcana Knight Joker!" yelled Yugi, and a massive dark armoured knight with long black hair formed from the spiral portal that had twisted the three Knights into one. (3800/2500) _My fighting spirit will overcome fear!_

**Dun-dun-dun. I won't put an exclamation mark there. It doesn't deserve an exclamation mark because it's overused. **

**Good god! Chapter anxiety! Still though, I really like Willa's monsters. For necessity, his duel with Kaiba will be slightly extended, which is good. I'm still calling the Wicked Gods "Wicked Gods" it's just when Dreadroot is upgraded by Divine Evolution that I'll call it an Evil God. Speaking of which there is also the other effect of Divine Evolution that Yako failed to mention. . .**

**Review guys!**


	12. The Showdown! Advent of the BlueEyes!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**This is the second to last merged chapter for now. Kaiba's duel comes to a head! Willa Mette's out to prove that there is a dragon greater than the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon – The White Horned Dragon!**

**Yugi makes his comeback against Yako by using a fusion monster instead of a god monster, against the Wicked Dreadroot.**

**By the way, imagine that Willa sounds like the English version of Kite Tenjo.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art.**

_The Showdown, and Then? Advent of the Ultimate Life-Form!_

_I can't believe it_ thought Yako. _He fused his three Knights into on without the cost of a sacrifice! He's face-to-face with an Evil God, and still has the will to fight! _"Impressive!" yelled Yako. "But my Dreadroot has 5000 attack points! And because of its fear power your Knight Joker's attack points are cut in half! You'll never defeat my Wicked God card with a puny swordsman like that!"

Sure enough, the Knights attack points fell to 1900.

"That's true," admitted Yugi. "Your God card's aura of terror cuts Arcana Knight Joker's attack points to 1900, so I'll just equip it with Lightning Blade and end my turn!" A new sword appeared in the Knight's hand, boosting it to 2700 – far too few attack points.

Yako laughed. "You've given up on summoning your Egyptian God cards and you're relying on a fusion monster. Is this the best you can do, now that the Egyptian God cards can't help you?"

Yugi glared at him. "I somehow suspect that you'll do anything to keep me from summoning an Egyptian God. Do my Egyptian God cards really frighten you that much?" he asked. "Despite the fact that your Wicked God is designed to make me feel fear, you're the one who's afraid, Tenma."

Yako glared right back at him. "Say what you like. You're about to learn the terror of the God cards."

Willa Mette grinned across the field at Seto Kaiba. "I've been preparing for this for a long time, little lord of cards," he said. "Now I draw!" he called. "I activate the spell card known as Pot of Greed! I draw two more cards!" he called, swiping two cards off his deck. "It's time I stopped going easy on you!" he called. "I activate the spell card, Forbidden Chalice!" yelled Willa. A massive cup appeared in front of Kaiser Glider, and it glowed. "This spell negates the effect of you monster at the cost of increasing its attack points by 400!" he explained. "I switch both my Dragonutes into attack mode, and then I play Union Attack!" he yelled.

Kaiba cursed, _that_ was a card that he could remember.

"Both Dragonutes attack Kaiser Glider at the same time!" yelled Willa. The two mist dragons charged (Total ATK: 3500) and sliced through Kaiser Glider, before Axe Dragonute knelt in defence mode. "That's the end of my turn."

Kaiba just looked at him furiously. He drew, seething. _Excellent. _"I summon Z-Metal Tank in defence mode!" he called, and his yellow caterpillar tank appeared (1500/1300) "I play the Mesmeric Control spell card!" he yelled. "This hypnotises your monsters and prevents them from changing their battle modes until the end of your next turn!" Waves rippled out from the card, putting the mist Dragonutes into a stupor. "Then I play Card of Demise!" he yelled. "I draw until I hold five cards! But in five turns, I will lose my entire hand!" he yelled.

Willa snorted. _That's assuming he even lasts that long._

Kaiba fanned out his new hand. "With that, I end my turn," said Kaiba.

Willa grinned. "I draw!" he called. "Lancer Dragonute! Attack Z-Metal Tank!" he called. The spear toting dragon charged, smashing the monster. "And since his defence points were lower than my Dragonutes attack points, not only is that Tank destroyed, but the difference comes out of your life points!" added Willa. "I play a facedown card and end my turn! Even if you summon monsters, my mist dragons will destroy them! You don't have a card in your deck that can beat them!" he yelled.

"Don't count on that," replied the CEO. "Let me explain. In the world of Duel Monsters, there is one being that is greater and nobler than all the others. A perfect, ultimate life-form." He drew. "My turn," he said. "I activate Silent Doom!" he called. "This revives the normal monster Vorse Raider from my graveyard in defence mode!" The beast warrior appeared in defence mode.

_No way_ thought Willa. _That's impossible; he can't summon it in just one turn!_

"I play Cost Down!" yelled Kaiba. "By discarding one card, I can lower the levels of all monsters in my hand by two this turn!"

_Cost Down!_ thought Willa. _That means that he can summon even an eight star monster with just one sacrifice!_

"Watch and learn!" yelled Kaiba. "This is the supreme monster! I summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" (3000/2500)

Behind Kaiba rose up the powerful form of a white dragon, noble, terrifying and deadly. The beast's head had a three layered crest at the back, and it hand a foot-like guard at the side of each of its jaws, the points lying underneath its blue eyes.

_There it is!_ thought Willa. _Seto Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon!_

"Don't get full of yourself because you blocked my normal attacks!" yelled Kaiba. "I can focus this beast's attack into a magical blast!" He slid a card into his disk. "I play the spell card, Burst Stream of Destruction!"

The Blue-Eyes charged up its powerful White Lightning, but it seemed even more intense than normal.

"With the power of this spell, I can destroy all monsters on your side of the field, in exchange for not attacking this round!" yelled Kaiba. "Now prepare to meet defeat! Blue-Eyes use Burst Stream of Destruction!" he yelled. "The dragon blasted a surge of energy at Willa's field.

_He took the bait!_ thought Willa triumphantly. He touched a button on his disk. "Reveal trap card!" he called. "Delayed Summon! This allows me to prevent a monster's destruction by sacrificing an extra monster to summon it, since I didn't summon last turn!"

"But with only one sacrifice, you can't summon anything higher than a six-star monster!" yelled a furious Kaiba. "There are no six-star monsters more powerful than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

"Quite right," admitted Willa, as the two Dragonutes disappeared. "But the monster I summoned was the White-Horned Dragon!" he yelled.

The dark red dragon with a white horn that had attacked the plane appeared out of the clouds, its horn glowing. (2200/1400) Willa grinned, and tapped his head. "Thanks to his horn, he absorbs the power of the spells in your graveyard – five of them to be exact!" he commented.

White-Horned Dragon roared as its power increased.

"Sure, I was surprised when you got the Blue-Eyes onto the field in one turn, but each spell I removed from your graveyard powers up my dragon by 300 points!" Willa yelled. The White-Horned Dragon was now at 3700 attack points. "Now it has surpassed the Blue-Eyes!" he called. He grinned. "This battle proves something I've always suspected. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon isn't really any good in an actual duel. It's just something pretty to look at."

"Enough with the jokes!" snapped the CEO. "You know nothing about my deck _or_ my Blue-Eyes!"

Willa sniggered. "Better wait until the White-Horned Dragon hits you to decide whether I'm joking or not!" he called. "I draw! White-Horned Dragon, attack! Horn Drive Buster!" he yelled.

Powering up its ball of white fire, the white horned dragon launched a blast at the Blue-Eyes, which vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Willa burst out in ecstatic laughter.

"Are you ready, Yugi Muto!" yelled Yako. Shudder before my Evil God!" he screamed. "Dreadroot, attack Arcana Knight Joker!"

The powerful Wicked God lunged, eager to smash the Knight to pieces. "Fierce Knockdown!" yelled Yako.

But Yugi stood tall. "The Arcana Knight Joker is the embodiment of my fighting spirit!" he yelled. "You can't defeat us with the power of terror!"

Sure enough, the Knight was still standing, blocking the fist of Dreadroot.

_What? _thought Yako.

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is defeated!" yelled Willa.

"I don't think so," chuckled Kaiba.

Out of the smoke rose the Blue-Eyes, wreathed in the same light projecting from the White-Horned Dragon's horn.

"I activated Magical Trick Mirror!" yelled Kaiba. "I activate a spell or trap card from your graveyard, and I've used it on Synchronic Ability!" he yelled.

Willa gasped. _No! That card transfers the abilities of all monsters of the same type to the equipped monster no matter the cost! Is he saying that he used the effect of my White-Horned Dragon to absorb my spell cards? That would mean the Blue-Eyes has 4500 attack points!_

The Blue-Eyes counterattacked, smashing the White-Horned Dragon with its lightning attack. Willa just stood there as his life points hit 3200.

"My turn!" yelled Kaiba. "The last turn, Willa! Blue-Eyes attacks you directly with White Lightning!" The Blue-Eyes blasted Willa, knocking him to his knees, and his life points hit zero. "The Blue-Eyes is no mere decoration!" yelled Kaiba, holding the card up. "As long as it belongs to me, it truly shines in the midst of battle!"

Willa grinned. "That dragon of yours sure is strong." He slipped the key card out of his pocket. "Here. This is the key card that will let you through the gate –"

"Big brother!" called Mokuba. "I hacked the security system! We're free to go in!"

"Good job as always, Mokuba," replied Seto.

"You don't want the key card?" asked Willa in surprise.

Mokuba grinned. "My brother and I designed this building! You can change the security codes all you want, but it won't help!" He burst out in obnoxious laughter.

"Shut up Mokuba," said Willa. "So why did you duel, then Kaiba?" he asked.

_He didn't call me little lord of cards this time_ observed Kaiba. "That was just a warm up!" replied the CEO, walking into his building with Mokuba lugging along his briefcase.

"I activate my facedown card!" roared Yugi. "Spellbinding Illusion! Your Evil God's attack points fall by 500, and its fear power is negated! Arcana Knight Joker's attack points are restored!" he yelled.

Dreadroot, bound by the circle, dropped to 4500 attack points. Arcana Knight Joker, however, was at 4600 attack points.

"Slash through the terror!" yelled Yugi. "Lightning Blade!"

The Joker Knight threw Dreadroot back, and twisted to the right, then to the left, carving two massive scars in the Wicked God.

Yako screamed as his life points hit 2200.

_I don't believe it. To think a non-God card could defeat the Evil God card _thought Yako. _Well, no matter. "I've already achieved my objective. See you later, big brother._

Yako's knees hit the floor.

"My turn and I attack you directly with Arcana Knight Joker!" roared Yugi. The Joker Knight charged.

"Stop right there, Yugi Muto!" yelled Croquet, rushing onto the stage.

"Mr Croquet! What's the meaning of this?" protested Yugi.

**I put Willa's comment about Mokuba in there because he really acts like a spaz in this volume. Read it, and see for yourself. Littlekuriboh thought his anime counterpart was annoying, but his manga counterpart is just stupid.**

**Two duels between powerful duelists conclude! The mystery of what the hell was going on is revealed. And there is no duelling! What is this madness? I sic my Grenosaurs on it!**

**Sure, I rapid-fired this, but review please! PLEASE!**


	13. The Tenma Brothers' Secret!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**The chapter title pretty much says it all. The last (for now) two part combination chapter. The next few will be normal chapters. Sorry, there is no duelling in this chapter! I'm sorry!**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and to Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_The Tenma Brothers' Secret!_

KaibaCorp top floor.

Seto Kaiba stepped back into his building, Mokuba close behind him.

"What's going on here?" asked Mokuba, his voice echoing. "Why isn't anyone here but Willa Mette? The staff should have come out to greet us! What's everybody doing?"

"So, Seto Kaiba, as I thought, you came."

The form of Yako Tenma sprang into view, hovering in midair with a nasty grin on his face.

"Tenma, you swine!" yelled Kaiba.

"It's another hologram!" added Mokuba.

"I'm the master here!" yelled Kaiba. "Now that I'm back, I demand that you surrender the building and the Duel Ring server immediately!" He spread his arm wide. "Leave this place at once!"

Yako snickered. "I'm terribly sorry, but I can't do that. You see, my R.A. Project is already underway."

"R.A. Project?" asked Kaiba. "What is that? What are you plotting?"

Yako closed his eyes, and when he opened them, his right eye bulged. "I want to give Yugi Muto the taste of despair and defeat," he replied.

"So Yugi's involved in this too?" asked Kaiba.

"Yes, of course," said Yako. "He's one thing the two of us have in common. We both consider Yugi Muto our sworn enemy."

Kaiba just glared at Yako.

"I do respect you, Kaiba," said Yako. "You and I had a similar upbringing. Parents lost at a young age, penniless, knowing no love. But, starting from nothing, you managed to win all this wealth and honour. The one person to put a blot on your rise to power was Yugi Muto," he finished. "As one in the same situation as I, I would like you to help me."

"Isn't it a bit late to be saying that?" yelled Kaiba. "You've already invaded my building and taken over my computer!"

Yako gave Kaiba a shark-like grin. "If that's your attitude, then I advise you to stay out of my way."

"Are you really Yako Tenma?" asked Kaiba. "When I knew you before, you were very shy and quiet, hiding behind your brother, Gekko."

Yako seethed. "Gekko is nothing!" he snarled. Then he cursed. "Static in my thoughts."

"What's the matter?" asked Mokuba.

Yako began to fade. "He lost to Yugi. I have no more use for him. As I thought, the only one to punish him will be the one who owns the Wicked Gods. Me and me alone."

Battle Stage.

"Master Tenma!" cried Croquet, shaking his master's shoulders. He looked up at Yami Yugi. "Master Tenma is no longer in any condition to duel. Yugi Muto, the victory is yours."

"Congratulations, Yugi Muto."

Yugi looked up at the theatre screen and gasped in shock. The face of Yako Tenma was splayed on the screen.

"I should've known you'd manage to defeat the Wicked Dreadroot," commented Yako.

"Is this a recording?" asked a fully creeped out Yugi.

Yako laughed. "Unfortunately for you, I'm afraid not. "I'm coming live to you from the KaibaCorp top floor, where I've been this entire time. However, it's true that the person that you just defeated is also me."

"What do you mean?" said Yugi evenly, as the maroon coated man struggled up.

"I hacked his body, took over and controlled him," explained Yako. "He is my twin brother, born just a few minutes before me. Gekko Tenma."

Yugi was thunderstruck. _What did he say? He has a twin?_

Gekko was struggling to tear up the Wicked Dreadroot, and Yako laughed. "You've broken free from my curse, haven't you?" he said. "Don't bother. That card's a fake."

"Yako," groaned Gekko.

"Good work, brother," said Yako. "Thanks to you I've managed to advance the R.A. Project another phase."

"Stop this, Yako," begged Gekko weakly. "That Project isn't-"

"As for you, Yugi" said Yako. "I'll let you see the results." He moved the camera behind him.

Yugi's mouth dropped open beside Yami Yugi's. "Tea!" they yelled in unison.

"Behold the former Tea Gardner!" cried Yako, stroking her hair. "Thanks to the tremendous energy emitted by the Wicked Dreadroot, her soul has been taken. It all proceeded just as I thought, power emitted in the heat of that battle."

"Keep your hands off Tea!" yelled Yugi. "Tea! Talk to me! What's wrong?"

"It's no use," said Yako. "She's already a soulless shell, her soul floating free of her body, ready to receive _her_ soul." His right eye bulged. "The soul of Cecelia Pegasus. "R"ebirth of "A"vatar!" called Yako. "The purpose of the R.A. project is to summon Maximillion Pegasus to me once again! With the return of his beloved Cecelia, he will come out of hiding, and return to me! I wonder if you can stop me, Yugi?" he said, before the screen cut off.

"Tenma!" roared Yugi. "Tea!"

"Yugi," said Gekko, who had finally gotten to his feet. "Master Pegasus sold his soul to see his beloved Cecelia once more. Yako is the same way; he'll do anything to see Master Pegasus once again. I want to see him too."

Any further words were cut off as Yugi grabbed Gekko's collar. "But I don't want it so badly that I'd sacrifice someone for it." He bowed his head. "I tried everything I could think of to dissuade Yako from this folly, but he's overflowing with the power of the Wicked Gods. He used that power to suppress my consciousness and control my body."

Yugi sadly let go of Gekko.

"Our duel was all part of his plan," continued Gekko. "He needed to summon Dreadroot to produce enough mystic energy to separate Tea Gardner's soul from her body." He closed his eyes. "Forgive me. I shouldn't have summoned the Wicked Dreadroot." Then he opened his eyes. "Yugi, I said I'd let you see Tea if you won. Her spirit is trapped in the Duel Ring Server."

"What?" asked Yugi.

"You've still got the card of her, right?" asked Gekko. "Put her card in your duel disk and you'll see her."

Yugi played the card.

The image of Tea Gardner appeared in midair. Fortunately, she was still wearing her school clothes. She gasped in surprise.

"Tea?" gasped Yugi. His face had transformed into an image of pure happiness, as had Tea's.

"Yugi!" cried Tea, diving through him. Both of them stopped in shock, and then turned to face each other. "Yugi, you came to save me, didn't you?" asked Tea. "Thanks!"

"I believe she was watching everything through your duel disk," explained Gekko.

Yugi broke down. "Hang on! I'll save you, I swear it!" he yelled.

Tea smiled. "Hey! Why are you acting al freaked out?" she asked. "Keep it together Yugi!" she said, patting his shoulder. Her hand went right through the solid flesh, and she snatched it back. "Oh. We're so close, and yet, we can't touch. It feels kind of lonely."

"He-he disappeared!" cried Mokuba. Big brother, what's going on here? What did he mean, Wicked Gods?"

"We have to get to the bottom of this," replied the CEO.

"Yako and I were orphans," explained Gekko as they headed through the next door.

Yugi, now in control, followed him along with Tea's hologram.

"Master Pegasus was kind enough to adopt us," he continued. "He gathered brilliant orphans from around the world and trained them as game designers and duelists." Gekko stepped onto the escalator. "Now that I look back, I wonder if Master Pegasus was training his own successor, since he had no children of his own." He sighed. "Before Master Pegasus went away, Yako was gentle and quiet, factors that led people to believe that he was weak. But when Master Pegasus went missing, he shut himself up in his room and threw himself into a disturbing area of research."

"A disturbing area of research?" asked Yugi.

"The Mystic Science system," said Gekko. "The analysis and application of the mystic energy present in not only the Millennium Items, but also in the Egyptian God cards." Gekko trembled. "In the course of this research, Yako created cards from data Master Pegasus had left behind. Cards of immeasurable strength, granted power equal to the Egyptian God cards, and cursed as a result of their purpose. Cards of ill omen, filled with evil intent. Master Pegasus had misgivings about them. The cards had no names, so Yako named them the Wicked God cards. Their curse damaged my brother's already fragile psyche, and now he's devoted himself to this wicked Project. A Project with the aim to produce either Master Pegasus's or Cecelia Pegasus's avatar, using Tea Gardner's body as a vessel, the "Rebirth of Avatar" Project."

Yugi and Tea looked at Gekko in horror.

"Still, as long as Miss Gardner's spirit exists, we should be able to return her to normal, but we don't have much time to spare," finished Gekko.

Both Yugi and Tea breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait a minute!" protested Yugi. "Why does Tea have to be the vessel?"

Gekko sighed. "Yako claims that the vessel must fulfil certain conditions. First, they must be mentally and physically healthy. Second, they must not be duelist. He claims that duelists have a fighting spirit that he calls the "sword of the heart" that makes it more difficult to detach their souls through the means available to him. And finally it must be someone whose possession will inflict pain on Yugi Muto," he finished. "That, Miss Gardner is why you were chosen."

"But why does your brother want revenge on Yugi?" cried Tea. "It isn't Yugi's fault that Pegasus disappeared, and you know it!"

Gekko looked at the floor. "Just before the Battle City tournament was announced, someone came to Yako and informed him that he had witnessed Yugi Muto take Master Pegasus's Millennium Eye – though the witness fled before he could see the outcome upon hearing Master Pegasus's screams of anguish."

"That can't be!" cried Tea, as the escalator reached the top. "Who said that?"

"One of the finalists in the Duelist Kingdom tournament," replied Gekko. "Keith Howard."

"_Bandit _Keith Howard?" asked Yugi in horror.

"Heyyy!" called a familiar voice from along the floor. "Made it up here already, eh? Now, Gekko, no cheating – you can't skip ahead. This is as far as you go."

The speaker was a man dressed in scruffy clothes, wearing sunglasses, and an American flag on his head. He was thinner and paler then when they'd last seen him, and was wearing longer sleeves.

"It's been a long time, Yugi Muto!" called Bandit Keith, taking off his sunglasses. "I've been watching you. Getting all worked up over some chick, what a loser!" He burst out laughing, slipping his sunglasses back on.

"Keith!" yelled Gekko. "Yugi didn't attack Master Pegasus! Why would you put a lie like that into Yako's head?"

Keith looked genuinely surprised. "He didn't? Was it that punk Joey?" he wondered. "Well whatever, it doesn't really matter."

Gekko gritted his teeth.

"Anyway, who cares how it happened?" asked Keith. "More importantly, your time's running out. Little Yako said everything will be ready to go in a few hours."

"What?" cried Yugi. "C'mon Gekko, we don't have much time!" He ran around the corner. "Bandit Keith!" he yelled. "You're the card professor guarding this block aren't you?"

Keith snorted. "Don't jump to conclusions! Just so happens there's a duelist here who's about as good as me – maybe."

The duelist in question, a scrawny man with a face like a rat and a shirt that was far too big for him, sighed. "It sounds fake when you say it," he drawled. "I'm Ted Banias, and I'm the card professor in charge of this block."

"I'm just here to make sure this guy doesn't run out on the debt he owes me!" added Bandit Keith. "We got bored waiting for you to show up, and we played a couple of duels without disks."

"Big deal," replied Banias. "You cheated and you know it."

"What!" yelled Keith. "I dare you to say that again!"

Yugi didn't pay attention to their bickering, he just thought to himself. _Right now the Pharaoh is still in shock over Tea, and he's tired from all the duels he's been fighting. _"This time I'll do it!" said Yugi, ready to switch on his disk.

But Gekko thrust out his arm. "Yugi, please let me handle this one. And if you'll let me, I'd like to help you put an end to Yako's folly.

"Gekko," said Yugi in surprise.

Bandit Keith had started paying attention again and burst out laughing. "Gekko! Don't tell me you're gonna duel! You're gonna turn on your own brother? Hey, Yugi! You sure you're okay with this?" Do you really trust this guy, I mean he's Yako's brother!"

"Yeah, he is," admitted Yugi. "But that doesn't matter. I believe in Gekko."

Keith snorted. "Stupid idiot. Yugi, if Gekko loses, you're out too!"

Yugi nodded.

Gekko shifted his disk to duelling mode.

Ted Banias stood up. "Well then, let's get this thing started!" he called, shifting his own disk to duelling mode.

"Let's duel!" they cried, drawing their five-card hands.

"I'll go first!" called Banias. "I set on card facedown, and summon Spike Rhinoceros!" (1800/1600) A massive humanoid rhino appeared with a bellow. "That ends my turn!"

"It's my turn!" yelled Gekko, drawing his first card.

**Total swear words from Bandit Keith that I cut out this chapter: Eight.**

**Bandit Keith's back! He was always a guy that I loved to hate, for obvious reasons. I'm not entirely sure why he's so thin in R, but I'll come up with an explanation.**

**So did I tweak the terms of the R.A. Project well, or just screw up really badly? If you have a better anime storyline explanation, tell me, and I'll change this accordingly. **

**Review, bro's! I know I pound out chapters for this really quickly, but that's because I enjoy it!**


	14. The Elf Warriors!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**The chapter title reveals Gekko's deck type. Imagine that Banias sounds like Chazz. I really hate Banias.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and to Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_The Elf Warriors!_

Pegasus Mansion, six years ago.

Gekko Tenma selected a card in his hand. "I summon Thoroughbred Elf!" he called, placing the card on the table. (1800/1500) "Then I activate the Spirit Slayer equip spell!" he added, placing a card behind it. "Attack directly!" he called, and his opponent groaned.

"Oh, what splendid technique!" called a voice.

Gekko looked up at the face of Maximillion Pegasus.

"Just what I'd expect from my protégé Gekko!" added Pegasus.

"Yeah!" called another kid. "You're great!"

"Th-thank you so much, Master Pegasus!" replied Gekko in awe. "Were you watching me?"

"Of course I was, Gekko," said Pegasus. "As a duelist, you've reached perfection!" he said.

Gekko gasped in surprise, while behind him, out of sight, lurked Yako.

Yugi watched Gekko and Banias. _Gekko is fighting to stop his brother from going crazy and doing something awful. He can't lose!_

Gekko selected a card. "From my hand, I activate the spell card Graceful Charity!" he called.

Yugi gasped. "He's exchanging cards before he even summons a monster?" he asked.

Banias started cackling. "How lame is that?" he laughed. "You're playing that card, right at the start? Problem with your hand, kid?"

Gekko ignored him. "I draw three cards from my deck, and send two of the cards from my hand to the graveyard." He did so without batting an eye at the result.

Banias sniggered. "Did you manage to get a monster card this time?"

Gekko just continued to ignore him. "I summon Learning Elf in defence mode!" he called (1400/1500) A bespectacled elf maiden holding a tome appeared in a kneeling position. "In addition I set two cards facedown and end my turn!"

Banias laughed derisively. "You went to all that work to summon a monster and it's that wimpy elf?" He turned to Bandit Keith. "Hey, Keith! Was this guy really card creator Pegasus's protégé?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard!" replied Keith. "The guys around him said he's called the "Perfect Duelist!"

Banias snorted. "'Perfect!' Yeah, I bet!" He drew. "Well then, I guess I'd better be on my guard then." He slid a card into his disk. "I set another card facedown, and summon Speed Jaguar!" he called. (1000/800) A humanoid jaguar in purple armour appeared, holding a curved sword. That's right. Curved sword. "Go on, show me what kind of strategy the "Perfect Duelist" comes up with, I'm curious! Spike Rhinoceros, attack Learning Elf!" he yelled.

Gekko gritted his teeth. "I reveal my facedown card!" he called. "Mirror Barrier, activate! It encloses Learning Elf!" he added.

"Not so fast!" yelled Banias. "I activate my spell card, Hand-to-Hand! Spell and Trap effects are now negated during the battle! Spike Rhinoceros; smash Learning Elf with Shoulder Pierce Attack!" he yelled, and the massive rhino busted Learning Elf to pieces. "And now, Speed Jaguar, attack Gekko while he's unguarded with Double Saber Rush!" he yelled. The jaguar sliced at Gekko, dropping his life points to 2000.

"Why did he take that much damage?" asked Tea.

Banias laughed. "When Speed Jaguar attacks, any damage is doubled! Hey, Gekko! Looks like you're not so perfect after all!"

Gekko just drew a card. "Learning Elf's special ability means I can draw another card."

Banias grinned. "Better hope that card is a good guard monster, or you're toast! My turn's over!"

Gekko drew. Eyes closed, he selected his card. "I play the spell card Graceful Charity!" he said.

_What? Graceful Charity again? _thought Banias in confusion.

Yugi gasped. _No! Why?_

"Hey, kid!" yelled Banias as Gekko drew three cards. "What's wrong with your deck? Is that all you've got, throwaway cards like these?"

Gekko just slid two cards into his graveyard.

_Is he really having trouble with his hand? _wondered Yugi.

Bandit Keith seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Hey, Yugi. Is Gekko really trying to win?" He sniggered. "Gekko loves his little brother, doesn't he? You sure he isn't trying to fake a bad hand and lose so that his brother's Project succeeds?"

Yugi swallowed, while Gekko looked downcast.

"Yugi, don't forget, if Gekko loses, you're out too!" Keith said.

Gekko selected two cards. "I play two more facedown cards, and summon Thoroughbred Elf!" he called. A muscled elf appeared in front of him. "I also reveal an equip spell from among my facedown cards, and equip Thoroughbred Elf with Spirit Slayer!" he called. A double bladed sword appeared in the elf's hands, with a gem in between the blades near the hilt. The elf's attack points rose to 2300.

"Well, looks like you finally drew a decent monster!" observed Banias.

"Take this!" yelled Gekko. "When the monster equipped with Sprit Slayer attacks, the other monster loses 500 attack points! Thoroughbred Elf attacks Speed Jaguar with Spirit Slayer!" he yelled, and the elf swung the sword with both hands at the jaguar.

"You wish!" replied Banias. "I activate my facedown card, Shadow Spell!" he called, and chains ensnared the elf, preventing its attack and dropping it to 1600 attack points. "That just cancelled your attack!" called Banias with a laugh.

"Well, hey, look at you!" commented Bandit Keith to Gekko. "All fired up all of a sudden! Not looking so good, is it, Yugi?" he said. "Can you really trust this guy?"

"Nothing you say to me can change things," said Yugi. "I haven't doubted Gekko for a single moment!"

Gekko opened his eyes in shock.

"Unbelievable!" yelled Keith. "What a moron! Well, who cares? Whether Gekko plans on winning or losing, it's obvious that he's gonna lose!"

"Are you ready?" snarled Banias. "As I sacrifice Speed Jaguar and Spike Rhinoceros, I activate the Medicine Eater spell card! When I tribute summon a normal monster by offering four star sacrifices of the same type as it, the weakest effect monster among them gives half of its attack and defence points and all of its special abilities!"

A massive fist of a humanoid lion with a remarkably similar lower torso to Maico Kato's Green Baboon appeared, clutching Speed Jaguar and absorbing its power. (2600-3100/2500-2900)

"I summon Assault Lion!" yelled Banias. "And thanks to Medicine Eater, he's absorbed Speed Jaguar's ability to deal double the damage when he attacks!"

"Oh no, he'll lose if he doesn't do something soon!" cried Yugi.

"Eat this and say goodbye!" called Banias. "Assault Lion! Attack Thoroughbred Elf!" he yelled.

"Reverse card!" yelled Gekko. "Amulet of Affection equips to my elf and reduces the damage that I take to zero!"

The massive fist of the Assault Lion crashed through Gekko's elf, and the backlash knocked Gekko backwards, though his life points remained unharmed.

"Tsk!" muttered Banias. That lame trick of yours saved your life, huh?"

"Phew," breathed Yugi. An equip card that reduces damage to zero. But even though he managed to make it through this turn, can he really take down a monster that powerful?"

Banias shrugged. "Well, I can deal. I set a card facedown and end my turn." He grinned as Gekko drew. _About all you can do now is summoning monsters in defence mode! But my Final Attack Orders trap card will switch them to attack mode! I've got you in a corner!_ Then he realised that Gekko hadn't made a move since he'd drawn. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Aren't you going to summon a monster?"

Gekko sighed. What he said next made Yugi and Tea gasp in shock, and Banias and Bandit Keith burst out laughing.

"Right now I have no monsters in my hand."

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: Three. He is the Cid Highwind of Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**I'm two fifth's of the way done! Can Gekko, with no monsters in his hand, come back from defeat and beat Ted Banias? And Joey runs into what might be the strangest card professor yet – and that's saying something!**

**Review please! This will most likely be the last chapter in this rapid-fire clip, but maybe not – it depends on my university workload.**


	15. The Perfect Duel!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**Sheesh. Seven chapters and no reviews, bro's? Am I just that bad I wonder, or is this story really hard to find? Meh, I guess I'll figure it out.**

**So, anyway, Gekko continues his duel against Ted Banias, and shows him exactly **_**why**_** he is known as the "Perfect Duelist." Ted, you stupid fool. C'mon dudes, Pegasus knows what he's talking about. And Joey pokes his head round a corner and into – Oh! It's staring!**

_The Perfect Duelist!_

Ted Banias burst out laughing. "You're kidding, Tenma! No monsters?"

"Oh no," whispered Yugi.

Bandit Keith grinned to himself.

"Unbelievable!" cried Banias. "You drew new cards so many times, and _still_ no monsters. Man, either you've got terrible luck, or your deck balance is awful." He spread his arms. "Your side of the field is deserted! So if you can't summon out a monster next turn, my powered-up Assault Lion will attack, and it'll be game over!"

Keith snickered. "Hand trouble, huh? What a joke. I get what you're planning. Gotta have some excuse to give Yugi when you lose!"

Gekko just stood there, looking downcast.

Bandit Keith smiled. "Gekko loses on purpose, and Yugi gets booted out of the building. Then the R.A. Project succeeds!" he commented. "You're such a great brother, Gekko!"

Gekko hung his head.

"Yugi," whispered Tea.

Yugi sighed. "I think that Gekko and Yako are a little like me and the Pharaoh," he admitted.

"The Pharaoh?" asked Tea in confusion.

"Yeah," replied Yugi. "The Pharaoh has been by my side for a long time now, so much that we're a part of each other." He looked up at Gekko. "And Gekko's brother has been warped by the Wicked God cards. He's fighting this battle so that he can get back a part of himself!" he yelled. "That's why, no matter what, he can't lose!"

"Fine," said Banias. "Let's say that's true. How's he supposed to fight like this? No monsters in his hand or field!" He gestured at the massive lion standing behind him. "On my next turn, Assault Lion is going to rip him to pieces!" he yelled.

Bandit Keith leered from behind Banias.

"Or do you want to just surrender and get it over with?" asked Banias.

"Yes," replied Gekko.

"What?' sneered Banias.

"I'll get it over with," said Gekko.

Banias burst out laughing, but then Gekko gave him a look of swift anger. "But that's because you're about to lose!" he yelled. He touched a button on his duel disk. "Let me show you my facedown card!" he called. "Armament Reincarnation!"

Five shimmering forms appeared on Gekko's field. All were spirit of white fire with 500 attack and defence points each. Then, weapons and armour formed on them, boosting two of them to 1000 attack points and one to 1500 defence points.

"What the . . .?" protested Banias.

"How did he get those?" added Keith.

Tea and Yugi were equally shocked.

"All the equip spells in my graveyard were summoned as monsters!" called Gekko. "Spirit Slayer! Neon Laser Blaster! Shield Reflector! Laminate Armour! And finally, Mist Body!" he yelled.

"But wait a minute!" protested Banias, who was degenerating into hysterics. "You didn't use all _those _equip cards! You must have miscounted!"

Bandit Keith cursed, having figured out what was going on. _Don't tell me Gekko was using Graceful Charity to dump equip cards into his graveyard! Now he has five! If he's doing what I think he is, this is bad. . ._

Banias had recovered, but he was still visibly nervous. "But still, all your monsters are just small fry!" he shrieked. "They can't take down my Assault Lion!" Then he grinned. "Aha! I know, you're planning to put them into defence mode to survive another turn! Nice try! Too bad it won't work!" He gestured to his facedown card. "See this facedown card? It's Final Attack Orders! If I put even one of those into attack mode, you're finished! It's all over on the next turn!" he yelled.

"There is no 'next turn'," replied Gekko. "I told you. The duel ends now. My equip card not only have their own abilities and boost, but they are all warrior types!"

Keith groaned. _He does have them . . ._

"I play these two spell cards!" yelled Gekko. "The A. Forces! Thanks to this spell card, for every warrior monster on the field, a warrior monster gains 200 attack points! With two The A. Forces spell cards, and five warriors, they each gain 2000 attack points!" he yelled.

Spirit Slayer and Neon Laser Blaster all went up to 3000 attack points, while Mist Body, Laminate Armour and Shield Reflector all went up to 2500 attack points.

Yugi and Tea cheered. Bandit Keith gritted his teeth.

And Banias? He just screamed his head off.

"Here I come!" yelled Gekko. "Spirit Slayer attacks Assault Lion!" he yelled. The effect of the card brought Assault Lion down to 2600 attack points, rendering it easy prey for the equip monster.

Banias screamed, life points down to 3600. "Noooo!" he shrieked. _Th-this is the strategy of the perfect duelist._

All four equip monsters struck, blasted and in general, wasted Banias, dropping his life points to zero.

"You lose, Ted Banias," said Gekko.

"Gekko, that was great!" cried Yugi.

"Yugi," replied Gekko. "Thank you for believing in me to the end. I couldn't have fought if you hadn't."

"Yeah, let's fight together from now on!" cried Yugi.

Gekko closed his eyes and smiled. "Sure," he said.

Banias groaned. "That guy wiped the floor with me," he groaned.

"What kind of duelist are you?" roared Bandit Keith as he kicked Banias in the stomach. Banias flew into a glass pane, shattering it.

Keith stood over him – even thinner, he was a formidable fighter. "You were gonna thrash _him_ remember?" he said. "He was helpless, and he utterly annihilated you! This is why you owe me so much money!" He snorted. "And you call yourself a card professor!" He picked up the smaller man. "Your debt just doubled, you hear me?" he roared.

But Banias, whether by glass pane, or debt shock, had already passed out.

Looking sideways, Keith dropped Banias irritably.

Yugi and Gekko had just watched the ordeal, both had thought Banias a repulsive individual. "All right, hand over the next key card," said Yugi. "Unless you want to duel us next?"

Keith snorted. "Hold your horses, Yugi, I don't have a key card."

"What! You don't?" protested Yugi. Beside him, Gekko clenched his fists in shock.

"I don't need one," explained Keith. "I'll take you right to him. Right to Yako Tenma!" he said.

Joey Wheeler sighed as he turned the corner of _another _flight of steps. _So many steps_ he thought. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, they'd reached another floor. He turned, Tristan Taylor behind him, and saw a girl in a schoolgirl outfit buying drinks from a vending machine.

"Oh?" said the girl in surprise.

"Finally!" yelled Joey. "I found you! Are you the card professor for this block?"

The girl swallowed timidly.

_She seems kinda shy_ thought Tristan, sweat dropping.

Joey's disk shifted to duelling mode. "Okay, let's do this!" he called.

The girl turned – away from them. She fled down the corridor as fast as she could.

"Nyeah?" asked Joey. "Why's she running away? What's she doin'?"

"Go after her Joey!" yelled Tristan, tearing down the corridor after the girl.

"Oh, right!" said Joey, pursuing them.

"Stop!" yelled Tristan, as the girl jabbed at the elevator button. "Why are you running?" he asked.

"I-I'm sorry," replied the girl. "It's just that I'm a little scared of duelists," she said.

"Are you a duelist?" asked Joey, though he could see the duel disk on the girls arm.

"Yes, sort of," she said. "I'm the duelist in charge of this block. I told them I wasn't good enough. . ."

_KaibaCorp Lobby, earlier._

"Wait, I have to go up higher?" asked the girl.

"Course!" said Deschutes, sipping from a coffee. "You're one of the best! Hey, if you're nervous, we can hide you in the holo-projector lab!"

"No!" cried the girl and Pete at the same time. Pete grinned. "Hey, I just want someone to wander down there and get surprised by me!" he laughed. Mendo Cino groaned from his corner.

Tilla walked up to the girl. "Look, hun, it's alright to be nervous," she said. "After all, it's the King of Games that's coming to duel us! Just think of the prize, and duel like you always do. You'll be fine!"

"The King of Games!" snorted Willa from where he was duelling Banias. "Hah! Kaiba's where the prize is at!" he said.

"Kaiba?" asked the girl in horror.

"Yes," said the group's number one.

Everyone, even Kirk and Klamath, who were playing with remote controlled machines in the corner, promptly shut up at the sound of their leader's voice. With the absence of Bandit Keith and Gekko Tenma, this duelist had ascended to the top of the Card Professor's Guild. His black duel disk glistened on his arm, proof of his strength.

"We are being paid for our work by Yako," said the number one. "We also have personal wants and hopes that may be realised. We will all duel our hardest. No exceptions."

The girl sighed. 'Okay, I promise."

"So here I am," explained the girl. "But since I'm here, I'll do my best!"she cried.

Tristan sighed. "I'm asking this cause you like you might say yes. Would you just give us the key card and let us through? We're in a hurry."

The girl shook her head. "I don't really know why you're here, but I refuse. I made a promise."

"Well, she doesn't look too tough anyway," whispered Joey. "Let's just hurry up and beat her." He straightened up."Okay, then! Let's do this proper!" He shuffled his deck and slid it into his disk. "I'm Joey Wheeler!"

"Oh," said the girl. "My name's Reiko Kitamori. Please go easy on me." she said, bowing politely.

Joey sweated. She was actually quite cute, but he'd already had his heart stolen by someone else. _Stay focused Joey!_

They drew their starting hands, Reiko shifting her disk to duelling mode.

"Let's duel!"

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: Five.**

**The next duel will be **_**heavily **_**altered. I refuse to treat Giltia as a normal monster, and refuse to use Dramatic Rescue and a second Battlefield Tragedy. **

**University tests and exams are upon me! Not to mention trying to find a way to get my hands on some Evolzar's without paying more than ten bucks. Or just paying in general. So, bottom line? These chapters will begin to trickle. A few reviews might (okay, they probably will) motivate me to speed write. **

**So, review please, please, please!**


	16. Joey? Helpless?

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Joey is duelling. I am **_**heavily **_**altering this duel. I'll also explore more of Reiko's deck in this duel, so I can put Joey into a dire situation. Sorry, I'm probably not going to use Red-Eyes in this duel, but hopefully I'll see if it can make one last appearance in this fic. I am in a busy portion of life at the moment, so the chapters are probably going to trickle.**

**And finally, they revealed the look and effect of Number C32: Shark Drake Vice! I'm so happy, I'm so happy! It looks awesome!**

_Joey? Helpless?_

Joey watched as Reiko scanned her hand.

"Let's see, how did it go again?" she asked. "This is – oh, that's right."

Tristan sweatdropped. "Is it just me, or is she looking at her cards like she's never seen them before?"

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "Hey, Reiko!" he called.

Reiko snapped to attention. "Y-yes?" she said.

"How long have you been playing Duel Monsters?" asked Joey.

"Oh," she said, thinking. "Let me see. A little over a month."

"One month?" yelped Joey.

"I'm sorry!" cried Reiko.

"So it took you just one month to become a card professor?" asked Joey. _So, is she actually some kind of genius, or did they just run out of card professors?_

Reiko was still sorting her hand. "Please, you go first! I'd like a little more time to read the cards."

"If you say so," replied Joey, drawing. "I play one card facedown, and I summon Alligator's Sword!" he called. A green, humanoid alligator clutching a sword appeared. (1500/1200)

Reiko was still scanning her hand.

_Now I'll wait and see what she does!_ thought Joey.

"Oh, that means it's my turn!" said Reiko, drawing a card. "I summon Puppet Pawn, in defence mode!" she called, and a monochromatic figure appeared. (800/1200) "Then I'll play three cards facedown!" she called. "And finally, I play Pigeonholding Books of Spell!" she said. "This lets me check and rearrange the top three cards of my deck." Reiko swallowed. "And that's all. Your move!"

"My turn then!" called Joey as he drew. _Two facedown cards, huh?_ He slid a card onto his disk. "I'll summon Little Winguard too!" he called and the aqua armoured dwarf appeared. (1400/1800) Now, Little Winguard attacks Puppet Pawn!" he called.

Reiko jumped. "Reveal trap card!" she called. "Magical Arm Shield!" she called. "It takes control of one of your monsters and forces you to battle that monster!" Alligator Sword was snatched up by the shield, but Joey was ready for that.

"Reveal spell card!" he countered. "Cross Shift! This returns Little Winguard to my hand!" he called. "Then for my next move, I summon him all over again!" He grinned. "Not bad Reiko!" he called.

Reiko laughed. "Ha ha. Thanks," she said. Then she gasped. "Oh! I almost forgot!" she commented. "I activate the Spell Textbook spell card!" she said. "By sending my hand to the graveyard, I can draw a card, and use it if it's a spell card."

Joey swallowed. _Ah, man! Since she used Pigeonholding Books of Spell, then she'll definitely draw a spell card!_

Reiko drew. "I play Battlefield Tragedy!" she called.

"What?" yelled Joey.

"From now on, whenever either of us does battle, we have to send five cards from or decks to the graveyard," she said.

"For real?" asked Joey sheepishly. "Five cards from my deck. That's gonna hurt." He slid the cards into his graveyard. "Fine! I'm done!"

Reiko drew. "My turn then. Here I go!" she called, sliding a card into her disk. "First I play Card of Sanctity!" she called. "Now we both draw until we hold six cards!" she called.

Joey groaned. _Oh great. More cards outta my deck._

"Then, from my hand," Reiko continued. "I play the Promotion spell card to turn my Puppet Pawn into a Puppet Queen!" (2200/2500) From the air materialised a crowned monochromatic figure holding a sceptre and shield, both embossed with a crown.

"Did you just upgrade a three star monster to a high level monster?" yelped Joey. _Not good! My monsters don't stand a chance!_

Reiko dithered about. "I'll summon another Puppet Pawn in defence mode and end my turn." she said.

"Seriously? You're not gonna attack!" yelled Joey, seeing the Puppet monsters in defence mode.

"Sh-should I have?" asked Reiko.

_Did she just not want to pay the five card penalty?_ wondered Joey. "Ah, forget it! My move!" he called as he drew. _Still, that thing has 2500 defence points. I don't have a card that can take that monster down right now, but if she's not gonna attack, I've got nothing to worry about! _"I set a card facedown, and summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode!" he called. (1800/1600) The iron clad warrior appeared with a snarl. "That's the end of my t-"

"Oh!" called Reiko. "You're ending your turn! Then I get to use this card! Rearguard Action!" she cried. "This card causes your Little Winguard, your weakest monster, to attack the monster that I choose, my Puppet Queen!

Little Winguard charged, its slash bouncing off the Puppet Queen's shield. Joey yelped as his life points dropped to 2900 from the backlash. "So that means that I did battle?" he asked angrily.

"Yes," said Reiko nervously.

Joey grumbled as he slid five cards into the graveyard. _Great. I've almost lost half my deck!_

"Joey!" yelled Tristan. "What are you doing? Are you going easy on her because she's a girl?"

"Can it, Tristan!" yelled Joey, growling. _Man, I just can't get into the mood for this duel. Somehow, she's calling all the shots, and I'm letting her! _"Your turn, Reiko!" called Joey.

"Ah, yes!" said Reiko, swallowing as she drew. _Sc-scary _she thought as Joey glared at her. She selected her card. "I summon Puppet Rook in defence mode!" she called. (1200/1800) Another monochromatic warrior appeared this one with a tower for a head. "Then I play the spell card Promotion!" continued Reiko. "Puppet Pawn turns into a Puppet Bishop!" she called. (1100/1900) A monochromatic figure holding a staff appeared. "Once per turn, I can destroy one of your facedown cards in exchange for not attacking!" she called. "So I'll end my turn. Go ahead, Mr. Joey!" she called.

Joey sweatdropped as he drew. _Again, she isn't attacking. She's hiding behind her high defence monsters, and forces her opponents to discard until they run out of cards._ "Hey, Reiko," he said.

Reiko looked up. "Yes?" she said.

"Do you like duelling?" asked Joey. "Is it fun?"

_Huh?_ thought Reiko.

"I love duelling!" called Joey. "Whenever I play this game, I get psyched up! So why are you duelling like you're scared? That's why your deck's based around defence, isn't it?" he said. He raised his hands. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling it a chicken deck or anything, but c'mon! A duel where you don't get excited, where you don't even fight? That's just plain boring!" he said.

Reiko was quite surprised.

Tristan just sweatdropped. _Joey, stop with the preaching and just win this already!_

"Alright!" called Joey. "I sacrifice Little Winguard to summon Garoozis!" he yelled (1800/1500), and a reptilian warrior holding an axe appeared with a bellow. "Then I play Metamorphosis!" called Joey. "I can turn the five star Garoozis into the five star fusion monster known as Giltia the Dark Knight!" he called. (1850/1500) A knight garbed in purple and green armour appeared, clutching a spear. "Reiko, if all you do is defend yourself, even if you win, you never really defeated your opponent!" he called. "That's why you're afraid of duelists, isn't it!" he yelled. "Giltia, attack!" called Joey. "Take Puppet Rook down with Soul Spear!" he yelled.

Giltia launched a stream of energy at the monster, frying it.

Reiko swallowed. "There is my Battlefield Tragedy continuous spell that's active. Please discard five cards from your deck.

Joey face-fell. "Ack! Now I've already got less than twenty cards left in my deck! I'll play two cards facedown and end my turn!" he seethed.

Reiko drew. "I summon Puppet Knight in attack mode!" she cried. Another monochromatic warrior, this one with the head of a horse appeared. (1800/1300) Reiko swallowed. "Until now, I never considered playing aggressively, but now my Puppet Queen switches to attack mode!" she yelled.

Joey gasped. "Reiko! You're gonna go for it?"

"Puppet Queen, strike down Alligator Sword!" cried Reiko. "Checkmate Flash!"

Joey grimaced as his life points hit 2200, but then, much to Reiko's confusion, he burst out laughing. "All right, Reiko! Now we can really start duelling!" he called.

"Yes!" agreed Reiko.

"Joey?" asked Tristan. "Weren't you really duelling this whole time?"

Joey collapsed with a groan.

**Meh. Average chapter. I just want to get to the big stuff now! But I must calm down, I haven't even re-scripted Yugi's next duel yet. Hell, I haven't finished this one, but I can probably just muck around a little at the end. Don't worry!**

**But, yeah, as I said above, I am getting busy at the moment. Still though, I wouldn't give either this, or my varsity up for anything.**

**So guys, a desperate plea for attention – please rate and review!**


	17. The Rage of Kaiba!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Okay, yes, I mucked around a little. But here is the conclusion of Joey's duel, and some heavily implied violence! I love that. But not when it happens all the time, that's just boring. Intimidation is far better. **

**And once again, the title says it all.**

**See? Reviews motivate me! I wouldn't exactly go as far as my latest reviewer's but I guess that works as well – guess it shocks a gentleman (even though I'm only eighteen) like me.**

**Cosmic Kiss: Thanks! Yeah, the Tenma twins are pretty cool – Gekko's utter domination over Banias is a sweet sight. He only has one more duel in this fic though, I'm afraid. Yako still has two left – both against big boys! So expect to see some future Tenma awesomeness. Both stories? I'm not sure five or six is defined as **_**both**_** but what the heck. But I have been reading them, its interesting work! And for anonymous reviews, I could never figure out if I'd had them allowed or not. I'll change that as quickly as I can. **

**I'm not incorporating the Orichalcos into R, per se, but I might do sequel featuring the Tenma brothers and the card professors in the Orichalcos season. After all, Dartz wouldn't ignore the Wicked Gods, or the Asian branch of Industrial Illusions!**

_The Rage of Kaiba!_

Reiko slid five cards into her graveyard. Her life points were untouched, and she had the strongest monster on the field.

Tristan swallowed. _This is bad. Thanks to that Battlefield Tragedy card, Joey's already got less than twenty cards in his deck. _"Uh, Joey? Talking about a duelists spirit is great and all, but are you sure you can actually win this thing?"

Joey sighed. "You don't have to say it. I know the reason we're here is to save Tea, but somehow, I can't just let this duel end this way. Not without Reiko here knowing what a real duel is like!" he said.

Reiko blushed at that.

"Yeah, but you haven't even damaged her! And you've lost over half your deck!"

Joey cracked. "Shut up! Just sit tight and watch!" he yelled.

"Who are you telling to shut up?" asked Tristan angrily, but Joey just ignored him. "Hey!"

Joey sighed. _So, yeah. It doesn't look good. I can't attack too many more times._

Across the field, Reiko was musing to herself. _With that many card in his deck, Joey won't be able to deal enough damage to win. I just have to stop his attacks, and he'll drain his own deck._ She sighed. _But I'm not sure that I want to win that way._

"My turn!" yelled Joey, drawing a card. "I play Polymerization!" he called. "Here I come! I fuse Gearfried and Giltia!" he called.

The two knights fused in a spiral of colour, forming a burnished steel armoured version of Giltia with a combination of all their weapons clutched in its hand. (2700/1600)

"Meet Gilti-Gearfried the Mystic Steel Knight!" yelled Joey. "He's the toughest monster available to me! And he's gonna wipe out your Puppet Knight!" called Joey. "Soul Blade!" The knight sliced through the equine figure, dropping Reiko to 3100 life points.

"Uh, Joey?" Tristan said. "You just attacked."

"I know, I know!" yelled Joey as he slid five cards into his graveyard. _Well, great. Now I've only got ten cards left!_ "Your turn, Reiko!" he called. _Man, I can only win this if she turns into a fighting duelist!_

Reiko drew. "I switch my Puppet Bishop into attack mode!" she called. Then I activate the effect of Puppet King from my hand!" she added. "By sacrificing only Puppet Queen, I can summon him from my hand!" she called. A mighty monochromatic figure appeared, caped and crowned, holding a sceptre and sporting evident facile hair. (2800/2500)

"That's more like it, Reiko!" called Joey. "I can feel your will to fight all the way from over here!" he called. "And as a true duelist, I've gotta respond to those feelings!"

Reiko smiled. _I'll do it. Even if Puppet King falls prey to those facedown cards, I can use Rope of Life to return him to the field right away. I'll fight! I'll fight, and I'll win! _"Puppet King! Attack him! Majestic Checker!" she called.

Joey gritted his teeth. _Is this gonna work?_ "I reveal my spell card, Extra Boost!" he cried. "This card adds half of Gilti-Gearfried's defence points to his attack points! Counterattack with Soul Blade!" yelled Joey.

Gilti-Gearfried sliced through Puppet King, dropping Reiko to 2600 life points.

Reiko panicked. _Oh no! If I don't do something, I'll take a direct attack on the next turn!_ "I reveal my Rope of Life, returning Puppet King to the field with 800 more attack points by discarding my hand!" she cried. Puppet King rose up, attack points at 3600. "That's my turn done," she said. "And your Extra Boost spell destroys Gilti-Gearfried during the end of the turn."

"Nice," replied Joey. "I can't hope to compete with that defence. "But it looks like I'm better at offense!" he called. "My turn and I play Pot of Greed!" he called. "I draw two more cards!" He drew two more cards with a grin. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Gilti-Gearfried!" he called, and the steel knight rose up again. "Then I summon Panther Warrior!" he called. The purple humanoid panther appeared. (2000/1200)

_Eek! He's just amassed an army!_ thought Reiko in shock.

"Gilti-Gearfried attacks!" yelled Joey. "And from my hand, I play Ego Boost!" he called. "This boosts Gilti-Gearfried's attack by 1000 during this turns battles!" The steel knight glowed, a massive shadow rising behind it as its attack point went up to 3700. The knight carved through Puppet King – again.

Reiko yelped, her life points at 2500.

"Here I go!" yelled Joey. "I reveal the trap card, Relentless Assault!" he called. "The warrior type Gilti-Gearfried attacks again since he destroyed a monster, only with half his attack points! Soul Blade!"

Gilti-Gearfried's attack points dropped to1850, and it sliced through Puppet Bishop, dropping Reiko to 1850 life points.

"Finally, by sacrificing a monster, Panther Warrior attacks directly!" yelled Joey. Gilti-Gearfried vanished, and Panther Warrior charged, carving across Reiko and taking her life points down to zero.

Reiko gasped. _That was amazing!_ She breathed out, suddenly tired. "I guess I lost, but that was really exciting!"

"Yeah!" agreed Joey. "Looks like your excitement beat your fear!"

"Yeah, Joseph," said Tristan. "But if she'd stuck to playing defensively, you would have lost that one. You just fast-talked her into attacking didn't you?" he teased.

"What the heck are you on about?" asked Joey furiously.

Tristan shrugged. "Ah, well," he chuckled. "You won, so I'll let it slide." He turned to Reiko. "Now, will you give us the key card so we can get to the next block?" he asked.

"Um, th-the thing is," stuttered Reiko nervously.

"C'mon, spit it out," said Tristan.

"I don't actually have a key card," said Reiko softly. "I was just here to buy time. I'm sort of a throwaway pawn."

"A pawn?" yelled Joey and Tristan in unison.

"You're kidding me!" said Joey. "So where's the real card professor for this block, huh?"

"I'm the only one here," said Reiko. "The route you came down is a dead end."

"Well then, how do we get to the top?" asked Joey. "Isn't there another route?"

"No, there isn't" said Reiko. "I think all the ways up and down are locked."

"What the heck?" snarled Joey, leaning his head against the wall. "So we can't save Tea? We just have to leave everything to Yugi?" He straightened in fury. "I won't forgive you for this, Tenma!" he roared.

Then, something unexpected happened. The elevator opened.

Out stepped Mokuba Kaiba, holding what looked like a games console, and wearing a headset.

"Joey? Tristan?" asked Mokuba.

"Sheesh, Mokuba!" said Tristan. "Haven't seen you in a while!"

"No kidding!" replied Mokuba. "And this totally isn't the time to hold a reunion!"

"Yeah, we saw you get here in that jet!" replied Tristan. "How'd you get into the building?"

"What's with all the questions?" asked Mokuba. "This building belongs to me and Seto! What are you two doing in here?"

"Look, we'll explain later!" called Joey. Just get us up to the top floor, because that Tenma guy is up there!"

"You're after Tenma too?" asked Mokuba.

"Yeah, so help us out!" replied Joey.

"Sorry," said Mokuba. "But Seto and I are fighting to take our building back from Tenma! I can't waste time chatting! My mission is to take back the control room as quickly as possible, so see you later!" he called as he walked away.

Joey looked back at Reiko. "Take my advice: get out of this building as fast as you can," he said.

Reiko nodded, and ducked into the elevator.

Joey sprinted after Mokuba and Tristan. "Hold on a sec, Mokuba! Can you hack all the doors in the building?"

"Yeah, but it's not easy! It's really hard! Tenma's not stupid, even if I release a gate lock and go through; they change the security code and lock behind me. It's making a ton of work, and if they hadn't broken the executive elevator, I could've gone right to the Duel Ring server." He looked back at Joey and Tristan. "If I retake control of the server, I can stop Tenma's project, and release every lock in the building!"

Joey and Tristan exchanged glances. "You'll need muscle," they said in unison. "Wait for us!"

"And where's Kaiba?" asked Tristan.

"He went straight to face Tenma," replied Mokuba.

Seto Kaiba stood facing two heavyweight suits. They cracked their knuckles and moved towards him.

Yako Tenma sat before the Duel Ring server screens. "What beautiful data," he said. "I can feel the love the Master Pegasus had for Miss Cecelia inside the Duel Ring server. One with the sea of Duel Monsters data." He looked up. "Yugi Muto. You were the one who defeated Master Pegasus. The one who cheated him. The one who turned what was left of you into static and sealed you away with your beloved. But it won't be long now. It won't be long until I bring both of you back before my eyes." He closed his eyes, normal and untainted. "When I do, please. Illuminate me."

Then he heard three nasty whacks coming from outside. The door slid open.

There stood Seto Kaiba, shadow spreading from him. The CEO clutched his ever-present briefcase, a handy tool for dealing with the guards.

"Your filthy little project ends here," said Kaiba furiously.

"Seto Kaiba," remarked Yako.

**See? Yako's gonna play with the big boys now, dun-dun.**

**Next chapter, the truth of the R.A. Project is revealed in its entirety, and the strongest two card professors reveal themselves. But no duelling, unless I deem the next chapter too short and combine it with the one after.**

**Relentless Assault appeared! I love that card!**

**So, as I said about, reviews make me speed! Please rate and review!**


	18. The Truth of the RA Project!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Alright, the beginning of this chapter will be quite awesome. Sort of. It might also get garbled because of my alterations and the original qualities. **

**The last few card professors are revealed! Two extremely weird dudes, who are, like most of the card professors, idiots that we like to punish. Heheheh.**

**Cosmic Kiss: And here is the next chapter. With frequent reviews, they come quickly. So you mean the start of this chapter? (I know that's what you mean, I'm just messing.) Yeah, I found putting Pegasus in Tea to be weird as well, but her loss would probably have caused more pain to Yugi. **

**Note: Creative credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art.**

_The Truth of the R.A. Project!_

"Get your hands off my computer," snarled Seto Kaiba. He stood in the doorway to his control room, the unconscious bodies of Yako's guards splayed across the floor behind him.

"Seto Kaiba," replied Yako Tenma. "I do believe I asked you to stay out of my way."

Kaiba walked into the room, seething.

Then he swung his briefcase and cracked Yako across the face with it.

The smaller man went flying into the wall with a massive crash.

Kaiba snorted. "And that's just the beginning!" he yelled. "KaibaCorp isn't something for slime like you to play with! You will return full control of this building to me, immediately!" he roared.

Yako hoisted himself up, wiping his injured jaw. "My revenge plan is already in motion. It can't be stopped," he replied.

Kaiba grabbed Yako by the collar. "Why, you," he snarled.

"Soon, very soon now," whispered Yako. "The Duel Monsters data stored in the Duel Ring server is being homogenized. It won't be much longer."

"What are you talking about, you snake?" growled Kaiba. The he saw that the floor below him wasn't lit. He touched a button, and the lights flicked on.

His massive duelling space, the one where he'd tested Obelisk the Tormentor, was filled with monitors and equipment. A massive machine dominated the room's centre, and in it sat a very familiar form.

_That's Tea Gardner!_ thought Kaiba in shock. _What's _she_ doing here? And what on earth is that device?_

Yako laughed. "The Rebirth of Avatar Project. Tea Gardner is a core piece in the resurrection of Cecilia Pegasus – and the subsequent summoning of Master Pegasus."

_What is this guy on about?_ thought Kaiba derisively.

"When Master Pegasus created these cards, he put his love for art into them – love that was only surpassed by his love Cecilia," explained Yako. "He quite literally put their souls into these cards as he created them. So, in order to refine the soul I know is in there, I am merging all the data in the Duel Ring server. Then, I'll transfer that data into Miss Gardner's body." Yako stopped for a second with an insane smile on his face. "The soul of Cecilia Pegasus will definitely be in there. And who knows? I came to the thought that, even though I don't know whether Master Pegasus is departed or simply missing, the outcome will be the same." Yako spread his arms. "If he is truly still with us, the revival of his beloved Cecilia will be a beacon that will instantly summon him to me. And if he is trapped in another world, then his soul will be revived – and all I'll need is another host to siphon his mind and soul into."

"Souls? Possession? Are you listening to yourself?" jeered Kaiba. "Your 'data' is a collection of binary code on electronic circuits! It doesn't have a soul! There's no such thing!" He walked towards Yako. "Tenma, you've gone mad!"

"Seto Kaiba, I do believe that you've experienced it yourself," replied Yako. "Among all the duelists in the world, you are one of the few that can sense the souls of the cards."

"What nonsense!" said the CEO.

"For example," continued Yako. "In your duel with Ishizu Ishtar on your Battle Ship, something led you to abandon your Egyptian God card, and summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon." He grinned, ready to hit the nail on the head. "And in your match with Yugi on the Duel Tower, when Obelisk clashed against Slifer, I believe that the two of you shared a common vision, did you not?"

Kaiba grimaced, remembering his hallucinations. He'd first seen what looked like himself holding the body of a white-haired woman up to a tablet of his Blue-Eyes. Then, he and Yugi had seen the faceoff between that same man, and one that looked like Yugi himself.

"_Master Pegasus gave a soul to each and every one of his cards_," said Yako firmly. "This means that if you can look over all the cards at once, and comprehend them utterly, you will see the souls of their creator and his lover."

"Silence!" yelled Kaiba. "This is all just a fantasy you dreamed up!"

"You're wrong," said Yako. "It has succeeded before."

_No! That can't be possible!_ thought Kaiba.

"The man was a duelist," said Yako. "His soul was shattered by the punishment of Marik Ishtar, leaving him crippled." He breathed in, having lost air after talking so much. "Duelists possess a strong life force, and a duelist's deck is their _sword of their soul._ I simply took his deck and extracted his soul from it. It worked."

"Nonsense!" insisted Kaiba.

"Would you like to see him?" asked Yako, pressing a button.

A screen from one of the security cameras flashed up, showing a familiar individual.

_He's Yako's guinea pig?_ thought Kaiba in horror. _That's the first card professor! Bandit Keith! And that's Yugi with him!_

Yako grimaced. "Of course, he didn't make it out entirely," he remarked. "His deck was incomplete, and so he's slightly unhinged. Yugi Muto is on his way here, striking down the card professors I sent to delay him. The more he fights, the more his soul burns, and the more the souls of the cards resonate. With each duel, the fragments in each card come closer to awareness. And when they become self aware, the Project succeeds!"

_Yako, you monster_ thought Kaiba in shock. _What will you do now Yugi?_

Yugi, Gekko, Tea, and Keith – now.

"Hey now!" called a voice with a Texan accent. "Keith, Keith, Keith! Aren't you headed the wrong way, buddy?"

Bandit Keith stopped, and looked furiously at the speaker, a tall man with spiky, sun-bleached hair twice the size of his head. He wore a fur collared short jacket over a black top, and had a black duel disk strapped to his arm. The boy beside him was at least a head shorter, with pale skin, and dark hair, wearing a carelessly buttoned shirt that revealed his stomach.

_More card professors_ thought Yugi as Bandit Keith yelled at the two card professors.

"You two," remarked Gekko evenly.

"Do you know these guys, Gekko?" asked Yugi.

"Yes," said Gekko. "They were trained, like me, by Master Pegasus. Pegasus's protégés, his minions."

"Hey, Gekko!" called the taller man. "Long time, no see!"

"Wait, doesn't that make you almost like brothers!" asked Yugi in horror.

Gekko nodded grimly. "They're the top-ranked members of the unbeatable gaming group, "The Card Professor's Guild." He nodded to the taller one. "That's Richie Merced, the number one. His black duel disk is proof of that." Then he gestured to the other man. "And that's Depre, the runner-up."

"We came to meet you, Gekko!" called Richie cheerfully. "You too, Yugi Muto!" He looked at Keith and laughed. "You can't even take 'em to the right place," he said. "Are you getting senile, old man?"

"What'd you say?" snarled Keith. "Are you picking a fight with me, punk?"

"Aww, just joking!" laughed Richie, right before delivering a massive punch into Bandit Keith's stomach. "Don't act like you're a big shot, you scumbag!" he yelled.

"You little," Keith groaned, and he threw a punch, but Richie easily turned it aside and kneed him in the chest.

"Let me guess," said Richie. "You were planning to use the duelists as bait to lure out your 'special somebody,' weren't you?" He scowled. "Don't make us wait for your petty grudges, you loser!"

Bandit Keith sniggered. "A little punk like you thinks he's better than me?" he sneered.

Richie knocked Keith down with another punch. "'Bandit Keith'!" he said. "So maybe once you were America's number one gamer! That's ancient history, man! You're too old! It's over."

Keith struggled to get up, and Richie clenched his fists.

"Stop it!" yelled Yugi, dashing in between Richie and Keith. "He can't even fight back!"

"What the?" asked Riche. "Yugi Muto, you're covering for Keith?" He looked down at Yugi in fury. "Get outta my way!" he yelled. "I'm not your friend, pipsqueak! Mess with me and you'll get what he's getting!"

"Stop this Richie!" said Gekko in disgust. "We both know Keith isn't your real target."

Richie snarled. "Gekko, you traitor."

Depre spoke for the first time. "Gekko, why are you . . . with them?"

Gekko stayed quiet.

"You and Yako were the ones chosen to take over Industrial Illusions," Depre continued. "You were the chosen pair. So why are you over there with Yugi Muto, and not with your brother?"

Gekko seethed. "This twisted Project is destroying everything! It's pulled in Yugi and Tea and even the Kaiba Corporation!" he yelled.

Richie gritted his teeth. "So what? Why do you care what happens to them?" he said. "Master Pegasus took us in and raised us!" he yelled. "Master Pegasus is more important to us than anything else in the world! And don't you forget it!" He pointed accusingly at Gekko. "You've betrayed all of us! All of Pegasus's protégés!" he yelled. "Don't think I'll forgive you for that!"

"And you, Yugi," said Depre. "By taking revenge on you, we also advance the time of our lord's return." He glared at Yugi. "Master Pegasus defeated Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom. He would have taken over KaibaCorp. But then he duelled _you_ and _lost_. His soul was shattered, and after that, Master Pegasus despaired, and gave up on life"

Yami Yugi, listening on, snorted. Pegasus had been very much alive when his servants dragged him past them.

"Yugi," said Depre. "Unless we defeat you and take over KaibaCorp in our lord's name, Master Pegasus will never return." He spread his arms. "Now we will settle the bitter legacy of Maximillion J. Pegasus."

There was a pause then Gekko, trying not to sound derisive said, "Your legacy?"

"We're not going to let you sacrifice our loved ones either!" cried Yugi.

No one saw Tea's hologram blush at that statement.

Richie sighed. He'd never listened to Depre talk so much. "Follow us," he said. "We'll duel over here."

Yugi followed Gekko and Tea down the corridor after Richie and Depre, looking at Bandit Keith's motionless body. No-one saw Keith struggle to his feet and stagger down the corridor.

Richie keyed in a codeword on the circular door in front of them.

Gekko and Yugi gasped in surprise as they saw the two card professors standing on a bridge that reminded them of Pegasus's duel arena in his castle.

"Welcome to the place of our final showdown," said Richie. "And your defeat!"

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: Three**

**Next chapter, the duelling heats up. The easy card professors are all out of the way, and only the best remain. But there's still the issues of Yako Tenma and Bandit Keith at hand. **

**So guys rate and review!**


	19. Outer Space Showdown!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The story of the anime.**

**Yugi faces off against Depre in this one. No, not Yugi. **_**Yugi.**_** Again, the title says it all. **

**And, while I dislike Depre as a principle, he is an interesting and authentic, I guess you could call him, type of character.**

**Twilight Rose Magician: Thanks. Another one of these favourite part approaching ones – I never know which part it is, but hey, it's not like I'll cut it out (unless it's Gorz in Yugi vs. Yako. Please don't say Gorz.) Gekko? It's the leather isn't it? C'mon, don't lie!**

**Note: Creative credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and the art.**

_Outer Space Showdown!_

"Alright, Gekko, Yugi!" called Richie Merced from across the bridge. "This is as far as you go!"

Richie stood with Depre Scott on the other side of the bridge, facing Yugi Muto, Gekko Tenma, and Tea Gardner's hologram.

_The final showdown_ thought Gekko.

Richie grinned. "I've gotta say, I admire your stubbornness." He put a hand on Depre's shoulder. "Depre and I are the only card professors left."

_These two are the last ones left?_ wondered Yugi. _Looks like Joey and Tristan took care of all the rest._ "If you two are the last ones left, that means Joey's already on his way to where Yako Tenma is!" said Yugi confidently.

Richie laughed. "You wish! From what I heard, those two went down a dead-end path." He grinned nastily. "I wouldn't count on them finding little Yako. They're probably wandering around the building looking for a way out!" he said. "I hear KaibaCorp has thousands of rooms!" he laughed.

Gekko saw Yugi gritting his teeth. "Yugi," he said. "We have to beat these two quickly so we can move onto Yako."

"Yeah, I know," replied Yugi.

Richie snorted. "This is the end for you too," he said. He gestured to Depre. "We've gotta get ready to greet Master Pegasus when he returns, so, wanna do this thing?"

Then Depre flung out his arm. "Richie," he said.

"Huh?" asked Richie. "What's up, kid?"

"Sorry, but," replied Depre. "I want to go first." His disk changed to duelling mode. "Yugi Muto!" he yelled. "Fight me!"

"Depre," snarled Gekko in frustration.

"I'll be the one to erase the scars of Master Pegasus's defeat!"

_This duel's mine! _called Yami Yugi.

_Pharaoh! Please, leave it to me!_ replied Yugi.

_Yugi, I'm fine now! _protested Yami Yugi. _I mean it!_

_But I want to help too_ replied Yugi. _You and me, Joey and Tristan, we all want to save Tea. Our precious friend . . . _he choked. _I don't want to just stand around and watch._ Yugi reached into his pocket, and took a deck out of it. _This time, let me fight with my own deck!_

Yami Yugi closed his eyes and smiled. _Well, it looks like I'll be a spectator for this duel. But don't forget, Yugi. I'm always right behind you, and I can help anytime!_

_Pharaoh_ said Yugi happily, slotting his deck into his duel disk.

_Do me proud, Yugi!_ said Yami Yugi, before retreating.

"Yugi," warned Gekko. "Last season, Depre was number one in the Card Professor Guild rankings. Be careful."

Yugi nodded. "Thanks, Gekko! I'll win this!"

Tea approached Yugi. "Yugi . . ." she whispered.

"Tea . . ." replied Yugi. "Just hang on a little longer, okay?" He took her soul card out of his disk.

Tea nodded. "Sure! I believe in you!"

Yugi was able to keep the blush off his cheeks until _after _Tea's image had faded. He looked across to Depre. "All right, let's get started!"

Depre laughed.

Richie almost recoiled in shock, swallowing. _Did Depre just _laugh?_ That's a first._

Depre stared disdainfully across the field. _The normal Yugi is fighting me? Very well. _He drew his five card hand, even as Yugi followed suit. _Your existence caused Master Pegasus's downfall. I'll never lose to someone like you! _"This is it!" yelled Depre.

Yugi nodded. "It's time to duel!" He drew a card. "I'll go first!" he called. He placed a card onto his disk. "I summon Toy Soldier in defence mode!" he cried. (800/300) A wooden royal army soldier appeared, clutching a rifle. "And during each of my turns, when Toy Soldier is on the field, I can summon another one to my field!" added Yugi. "I'll play one card facedown, and end my turn."

Depre drew silently. _Hunh. His monsters not much, but, well, whatever. _"I summon Eva Abductor!" he called, and a grinning alien with an oversized head appeared. (1000/500) "By discarding one card from my hand, I activate Eva Abductor's special ability, Alien Abduction," said Depre.

"I have control!" yelped the alien, much to everyone's shock. It blasted Toy Soldier with a beam from the bulb on its head, snaring it and twisting it to stand in front of Depre.

"Eva Abductor can capture one of my opponent's monsters and add it to my army," explained Depre. "Your Toy Soldier is mine!"

Gekko gasped. _That leaves Yugi unguarded!_ he thought. _This is bad, Depre's going to-_

"Attack! Toy Soldier and Eva Abductor!" called Depre.

"Reveal trap card!" called Yugi. "Sand Fortress!" Sure enough, a massive sandcastle rose up between him and the monsters. "This trap becomes a field card that cancels out 3000 points of direct attack damage!"

The two monsters lashed out at the sandcastle, shredding more than half of it, though the remainder stood strong.

"What a pain," remarked Depre coldly. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. "My turn!" he called. "I play two cards facedown, and I summon Silent Swordsman Level 0! That ends my turn!" A childish warrior in aqua armour appeared, resting as large sword on its shoulder.

Depre frowned. _A monster that raises its level and becomes stronger, huh? _He drew. "I activate the field spell Cosmic Space!" Yugi groaned as his Sand Fortress vanished. "Next I sacrifice my two monsters and I summon the Zeta Reticulant!" he called. A reptilian, lilac alien appeared behind Depre with a roar. (2400/2100) "I'm not going to let that swordsman grow to adulthood," said Depre. "Zeta Reticulant, blast his Silent Swordsman to ashes!" called Depre.

"I play my facedown card!" called Yugi. "Turn Jump! This card makes three of our turns pass by! Silent Swordsman goes up to level three!" he called. The swordsman became a teenager, with an even larger weapon.

"Great move!" called Gekko, watching Depre grimace.

Depre touched a button on his disk. "Reveal trap card! Interdimensional Matter Transporter!" he called. "Transport my Zeta Reticulant to safety!"

The alien vanished, and Silent Swordsman's blade crashed into the ground beside Depre. They glared at each other before Silent Swordsman jumped back to Yugi.

_Too bad_ thought Gekko. _But Silent Swordsman's attack power will go up again on the next turn._ Then he realized that the arena was getting darker.

"Yugi, haven't you noticed yet?" asked Depre.

"What?" asked Yugi as he saw the lights dimming.

"We aren't having a power outage," said Depre. "But the lights in the arena are growing dimmer."

"What the?" asked Yugi in shock as he saw star appear all around him.

"Have your eyes adjusted yet?" asked Depre.

_We're in outer space?_ thought Yugi in shock.

"Yes," said Depre. "This is Cosmic Space. In this environment, the number of stars a monster has doesn't just designate its level, but they become _Life Stars_."

Yugi looked at Silent Swordsman in horror, seeing a glowing point of light winking in its chest.

"Thanks to the effects of Turn Jump, both our monsters have already lost six Life Stars," said Depre. Your low level monster cancelled out the loss on your turn with its effect, but now we are both down to one star. Every time one of us ends a turn, the Life Stars disappear, one by one, symbolising the inhospitable environment of space." He raised his hand. "And when a monster loses all its Life Stars, it is destroyed."

Yugi gasped. _So Silent Swordsman is already-_

"I end my turn," said Depre.

The mote of light in Silent Swordsman's chest winked out, and he shattered. Zeta Reticulant also groaned, and exploded.

_He's gone!_ thought Yugi in horror.

"Yugi," said Depre. "You stole Master Pegasus from us. You will get _nothing_ from me. Not my life points, not a chance to grow, and certainly not _a chance of winning._

**Oh god, I actually really like that last speech.**

**Depre, let's be honest, is a bit of an idiot, but when you can make a speech like that – which is well up there in the Yu-Gi-Oh! R one-liners – or the entire series for that matter, it cancels out. **

**I've gone with the anime effect of Silent Swordsman for this fic, but he's long gone now.**

**So, there might not be more than two chapters (the last bits of this duel) for a while. Times are stressful. I will write the Special Duel, but I'll put that in a different fic of its own.**

**So guys, rate and review! Again.**


	20. Toy Magic! Another Partner!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**It's Yugi vs. Depre, part two of three. Or maybe just of two. I haven't decided yet. Bad, eh? **

**So, it all comes down to this. Dino-Rabbit versus Evol – wait, what the hell am I saying, this is much more exciting! Toys versus Aliens! In space! Card games in space! Why didn't they make this into an anime? Then again, you know how garbled **_**my**_** version can get, so I wonder how the dub would end up.**

**But never mind that, it's time to continue the duel!**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Toy Magic! Another Partner!_

Yugi gasped as he realised the implications of the effects of Cosmic Space, Depre's field spell. _Low-level monster can only last a few turns in outer space. With each turn, that monster loses a level and a Life Star. And when those stars run out, they get sent to the graveyard!_

"And so, you already have no monsters on the field left to guard you," said Depre. "All right Yugi, it's your turn."

Yugi drew. _He talks big, but the same is true for him! I can summon a monster, but I'll have to protect it to summon a stronger one next turn! _He nodded to himself. _Okay!_ "I play one card facedown, and play Toy Magician in attack mode!" he called. A wizened toy holding a sceptre appeared. (1600/1500)

"Hunh," remarked Depre. "All you can do is summon weaker monsters like that?" he said.

"Oh yeah? See if you think this is weak!" called Yugi. "Toy Magician, attack Depre directly!"

Depre sighed. "Foolish." He touched a button on his duel disk. "Go, Negate Attack!" he called. The tornado swept forth and absorbed the blast from Toy Magician's sceptre.

Yugi looked across at Depre nervously.

Depre took this as a sign that it was his turn, and drew. "I summon Lyra the Giver, a monster that I can sacrifice to increase the level of another monster by two stars, and thus give it two Life Stars." (1800/1500) He glared at Yugi. "Lyra, attack!" he called. The door-like monster that had appeared unleashed a torrent of energy from within its claws.

"I'll counter that move with my Toy Box card!" called Yugi. "I can summon a monster from my hand and remove it and another from play to put them inside the Toy Box!" he called. "Then, I can negate that attack that you just made!" A bow with wheels appeared on Yugi's side of the field, the attack deflecting harmlessly off it. The box opened, and Toy Magician and another Toy Soldier stuck their heads out and sneered at Depre. "And, since they're not on the field, the Life Star effects aren't applied to them!" added Yugi.

Depre shrugged. "And in doing that, you unleashed the unearthly powers of Zeta Reticulant" he said. "While it sleeps in my graveyard, it summons Eva Tokens whenever you remove a monster." Two little lilac aliens appeared. (500/300) "Tokens are not affected by Cosmic Space," said Depre.

_Good_ thought Gekko. _Now he's got two monsters inside the Toy Box! On his next turn, he'll have monsters to sacrifice! But the same applies to Depre . . . _

_Of course,_ thought Depre. _This only works if he _has_ a high level monster in his hand. And since he stored away that Toy Soldier, he's out of cards. _"I'll end my turn," said Depre, and a glowing mote of light in Lyra's chest dissipated.

_If I can't summon a high level monster, my monsters will just keep slipping away from me!_ thought Yugi as he drew.

All four watched, tense looks on their faces.

"I take Toy Soldier out of the Toy Box," said Yugi.

_Just one monster? _wondered Gekko.

"Then I'll sacrifice that monster and summon the Dark Red Enchanter!" called Yugi. (1700/2200) A red-robed spellcaster with long hair appeared on the field. "When I summon Dark Red Enchanter, he gains two spell counters, and 300 attack points for each one!" called Yugi. The gems on the shoulders of the mage lit up, along with the six Life Stars in his chest.

Depre snickered. "You went to the trouble of preparing two sacrifices, and all you could summon was _that?_" he remarked.

Yugi groaned as he beheld the situation. _Even if I destroy one monster, he'll just summon a strong one next turn. He'll still have two sacrifices._ "I end my turn," said Yugi, and one of the motes of light in Dark Red Enchanters chest winked out, as did another of Lyra's.

Depre sighed. "You didn't attack," he said. "You hesitated at the crucial moment . . . is this the best the normal Yugi can do?" He drew. "What I'm about to summon, is nothing like your primitive monsters." He held up a card. "I sacrifice the two Eva Tokens to summon the insatiable outer space predator known as Greed Quasar!"

Depre was right. The monster was indeed like nothing that Yugi had in his deck. It was a massive skull, but one with spindly arms protruding out of curved pauldrons connected by a ring similar to that of Ra. A pointed head with no visible mouth (as the chest of the monster featured a massive mouth itself) jutted out from the top of the monster (X/X)

"Greed Quasar's attack and defence points are three hundred times its number of level stars," said Depre. "Right now that puts them at 2100, but I also activate Lyra the Giver's special ability." He pointed at the monster, which began to fade. "It gives its Life energy to Greed Quasar, raising it to nine stars, and 2700 points!"

Greed Quasar glowed as its strength increased.

"Oh no," whispered Yugi.

"And now," whispered Depre. "Greed Quasar, attack!"

Greed Quasar reached out its arms, grabbing Dark Red Enchanter and turning it into energy, which flowed into the monster's mouth.

"It ate the Dark Red Enchanter!" gasped Gekko in shock.

"Because of Greed Quasar's special ability," said Depre. "It absorbs the Enchanters level!" he called. "It now is level 14. It has 4200 attack points!" He waved his hand. "Go ahead, summon all the puny monsters you want," said Depre. My monster will eat everything, your monsters and your life points."

"Curses!" snarled Gekko. "Its Life Stars and level will decrease when the turn ends, but even so – it'll have 13 star, and 3900 attack points! And if it takes the stars from the monsters it defeats, its attack power will climb higher and higher." _What can he do?_

Depre snickered. "This universe is a harsh one," he remarked. "Too harsh for a weakling like you to survive." He snickered for a few seconds, and then burst out in maniacal laughter.

Richie winked. _That's game over. Depre's strategy never fails. He takes down his opponents defensive monsters while raising his own attack power, and somewhere along the way, he wins._ He sweatdropped as he watched his adoptive brother cackling. _I just can't believe he actually laughs like that._

Yugi gritted his teeth. _I can't win this_ he thought. _I butted in where I wasn't needed and now . . . Tea . . ._

"Enough of this," said Depre dismissively. "Call the Pharaoh. In the duel against Master Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom, you fought alongside your Millennium Puzzle's spirit, the Pharaoh." He grimaced. "I know your skill level know, and I've got no more use for you. Switch over."

Yugi looked downcast.

_Yugi. May I?_ asked the voice of Yami Yugi. _Its okay, I understand. But this isn't like you! _

"I'll crush both of you together," snarled Depre. "And I'll erase the stain of Master Pegasus's defeat. The greatest duelist who ever lived"

"Don't underestimate Yugi!" called the confident voice of Yami Yugi.

"So you're the Pharaoh," remarked Depre. "You finally showed up to help, huh?"

Yami Yugi laughed. "Yugi is a true duelist. He'll flatten you without my help!" he said with a grin.

"What did you just say?" asked Depre.

Yugi gasped. _Pharaoh!_

"Are you mad?" asked Depre. "By now, little Yugi's spirit is already broken. He's lost the will to fight. I'd say it's pretty obvious that you should stay out and duel with me."

"I wonder," remarked Yami Yugi. He waved his finger. "Prepare yourself!"

Then he retreated, leaving Yugi standing there to fight the duel.

"What?" asked Depre. "So I'm stuck with you, huh?" he said.

Yugi nodded. _That's right. I said at the start of this duel, that I would fight to save Tea! So I have to see this out to the end! If I don't, I might as well never have tried!_

"In that case, this is where you'll lose!" yelled Depre. "I end my turn! After I've defeated you, I'll drag the Pharaoh out here. Go on, it's your turn!" he added.

Yami Yugi watched, smiling. _You put that deck together all on your own. It, with all its cards and monsters, is your partner in this duel!_

_C'mon! Trust in the heart of the cards!_ thought Yugi as he drew. _Yes!_ "I activate Pot of Greed! This lets me draw two more cards!" He drew two new cards and smiled. "I play one card face down, and end my turn!" he called. Greed Quasar lost a mote of light from its chest, and its attack points went down to 3600.

"You didn't get a high-level monster," observed Depre, drawing. _He has two facedown cards, so if he wants to win, he'll be targeting Cosmic Space so that his monsters can survive. But even if that's his plan, he'll fail, thanks to the second Cosmic Space in my hand! _"I summon Eva Epsilon!" he called, and a grey-skinned alien that looked like a bizarre upper torso of a dragon appeared. (1500/1600) "Greed Quasar, attack with Prominence Flare!" he called. The attack smashed into Yugi, dropping him to 400 life points and knocking the wind out of him. Depre laughed as Yugi's eyes widened, and he fell to his knees. "Look at that! You took that whole blast!" he commented.

"Yugi!" yelled Gekko.

"This is it!" yelled Depre. "Eva Epsilon attacks as well!" The alien curved towards Yugi, and Depre laughed, not seeing Yugi slip his hand into his pocket and take out a card.

The sceptre of Toy Magician appeared between Epsilon's claws, blocking it.

"So he finally came out of his hiding place, huh?" asked Depre. "I continue my attack!" he called, and Eva Epsilon shattered against Toy Magician – literally, transforming into blocks and falling apart. Depre cursed. _Even though it was my will, I still can't believe that I just took damage from that weakling. _"Your magician is the only servant you've got!" he yelled. "He only showed up to get himself destroyed!" The he noticed the magician shaking. "Wait, what's he doing?" he asked.

Toy Magician glowed red with anger, growled at Depre.

"You're not going to tell me he's shaking with anger because I wounded his master, are you?" asked Depre.

"I activated my facedown card," replied Yugi.

"It-it can't be," protested Depre. "That's Fit of Rage!"

"Yep," said Yugi. "And now the damage that I took is added to his attack points!" he called. "He now has 5200 attack points!" Yugi clenched his fist. "We'll stop Yako's plan, even if you burn us to ashes! We're going to rescue Tea!"

"I don't know how you can talk so big," remarked Depre. "That equip card is nothing. The boost you gained will be halved on the spot during the end of this turn. Plus, due to the effect of the Eva Epsilon that you just took out, Greed Quasar gains two stars, and two Life Stars! Even at the end of this turn, he'll have 13 again, and 3900 attack points!" He grinned. "All your puny little monsters rage is worth nothing. It won't save you."

_Go!_ urged Yami Yugi.

"I activate Strike Back!" yelled Yugi. "This spell card lets me destroy a monster you control with less attack points than mine, and deal damage equal to the difference in their strength!" Toy Magician, still at 5200 attack points, raised its arm. "Toy Magician uses Block Demolition!" yelled Yugi, and the Magician transformed Greed Quasar into block and shattered it, dropping Depre to 2900 life points.

"Now it's my turn, and Toy Magician attacks!" called Yugi. Toy Magician clubbed Depre, and he saw himself disassemble, his life points at zero.

Richie gasped in shock.

Yami Yugi smiled.

Gekko gasped in relief.

Yugi cheered. "All right!" he called.

_Duel Ring server control room._

Seto Kaiba laughed. "I have to say, I'm not impressed with the duelist you brought in to defeat Yugi," he said to Yako Tenma. "If they're losing to _that_ little nobody, they're obviously not much!"

Then," said Yako evenly. "Are you saying _you_ could beat him?"

Kaiba looked back over his shoulder. "There's only one person who can defeat him!" yelled the CEO. "And that's me!"

"In that case, I'd like to ask a favour of you," said Yako. "Stand with me against Yugi Muto in my battle for revenge!"

"I don't think so, Yako!" retorted Kaiba. "I'll decide when and where I fight Yugi!"

"Then I suppose I have no choice," said Yako. "Refuse all you like, but I'll _make_ you obey me – through a duel."

Kaiba grinned. "Don't make me laugh!" he said. "You actually think you can beat me?" he said.

Yako took a Duel Monsters card out of his pocket and flipped it around.

Kaiba gasped. _Th-that card! _he thought in shock.

"This, my "God card," will defeat you!" said Yako as he held the Wicked Avatar in his hand.

**Three thirds of the way done! Sweet as, bro.**

**Well, next chapter, Gekko faces off against Richie Merced – the strongest card professor. It's gunslingers versus elves in a battle between two of Maximillion Pegasus's strongest protégés! But that will be up after the Dark Ruler one-shot.**

**Sure, no reviews, but I'm asking – if ever you read this after I've finished, could you please review **_**this**_** chapter and share your thoughts so far – it makes seeing the reviews more fun!**

**Signing off.**


	21. Gekko vs Richie

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**I'm back! At last, I'm back! I've just finished my first university exam, and bro was it stressful. I actually think I did better than I expected. So, in this chapter, Kaiba confronts Yako, and Gekko faces off against Richie Merced.**

**Twilight Rose Witch: Don't worry, I was just messing. Sorry if I was offensive. Yeah, the Yugi vs. Depre duel is a bit of a pain in the ass to write, but I still maintain that Depre's speech at the end of Chapter 19 is just so awesome.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Gekko vs. Richie._

In the Duel Ring server control room, Seto Kaiba looked incredulously at Yako Tenma, as Yako held up the Wicked Avatar card. "Your 'god card'?" asked Kaiba.

Yako stared back without missing a beat.

"You expect me to believe that?" asked Kaiba. "There are only three god cards! 'Slifer the Sky Dragon,' 'Obelisk the Tormentor,' and the Winged Dragon of Ra'!" he yelled. "And Yugi Muto has them all!" He continued angrily clenching his fist. "There were only three divine beasts drawn on the ancient Egyptian stele that Pegasus used as the theme for his Egyptian God cards!" He spread his arms, satisfied. "There can't be any other God cards!"

"And yet, the Wicked Gods are real," replied Yako. He held up the Wicked Avatar. "They are cards Master Pegasus disavowed. God cards which were never meant to exist."

"What?" asked Kaiba in shock.

"Master Pegasus created the Egyptian God cards," said Yako. "However, the cards surpassed even Master Pegasus's expectation. They were so powerful it was as if they were truly possessed by the Egyptian Gods." He sighed remembering seeing Pegasus bent over his desk, head in his hand. "For that reason, it is said that Master Pegasus agonized over them, even tried to destroy them by his own hand."

Kaiba snorted. "What a coward!" said the CEO derisively.

Yako bowed his head angrily. "But in the end," he said. "They were his creations. He loved them. He couldn't bear to destroy them." Yako turned his head sideways. "Instead, he sealed them away in Egypt, where Duel Monsters originated. I believe you know more than I do of what came after." He opened his eyes. "But that isn't the end of the story. Master Pegasus created something for use in the event that the Egyptian God cards went on a rampage."

Yako spread his arms, wishing the images would appear behind him – a black orb, an aqua skinned demon sheathed in bone, and a sickly pink serpent.

"He designed _other_ God cards – _my_ Gods cards – to keep the three Egyptian God cards in check."

"Keep the Egyptian Gods in check?" asked Kaiba. "Are you telling me they're just as strong as the Egyptian God cards?" he asked in fury.

"Yes," said Yako. "If only he hadn't stopped at the design stage. If only he had released them. I'll never understand why he didn't."

Kaiba did. He'd had enough experiences with the Egyptian God cards to know that anything close to their level of power would frighten anyone. If Pegasus had created the Wicked God cards, he would have dreaded the consequences.

"But now I know why he left them unreleased!" called Yako. "He left them for _me_!" He raised the Wicked Avatar. "I carried out Pegasus's will, and poured it into these cards! The Wicked God cards!" He spread the arm that wasn't holding the Wicked Avatar wide. "And _this_ is the God card _that will pass judgement on Yugi Muto_!"

Kaiba just snickered. "Your cards aren't so bad, but they won't be enough for you to take down Yugi!" he said. "Even your brother Gekko is a better duelist than you!"

"_I surpassed Gekko the moment I got these cards,_" replied Yako, right eye bulging. "I _will_ beat Yugi. Even if no one else can, I will. Now that I have the Wicked Gods, why not test me yourself?"

Kaiba grinned. "Why not? Yes, I'll take you down, and then I'll tame your 'God card' with my own hands!"

"Well then," said Yako with a smile. "Where shall we duel?"

"Follow me!" called the CEO, picking up his briefcase. "We'll go to the Apex Arena!"

The last vestiges of Cosmic Space faded.

Depre Scott, tears in his eyes, slammed his fist onto the floor as Gekko and Yugi looked on. "Nooo!" screamed Depre. "I can't lose! Not to you! I, we," he spluttered. "Master Pegasus is all we have!" he sobbed. "If it weren't for you, Master Pegasus would never have left us," he blubbered.

Richie Merced bent down, and helped his adoptive brother up. "Depre," he whispered.

"I just wanted to see the master just, just once more," he moaned.

"Hey!" yelled Richie. "Can I get some help here?"

"Yes sir!" called a voice over the intercom. The door opened, and two Industrial Illusions suits ran out.

"Take care of Depre," said Richie.

"Leave it to us, sir," said the first suit.

"Master Depre," said the other to the defeated duelist.

Yugi and Gekko watched as the cards carried Depre away.

Richie looked back at them, steel in his gaze. "Yugi," he said. "That's the first time I've seen you duel. The rumours don't lie." He shook his head. "To think that you beat Depre."

"I can't lose!" cried Yugi. "Not until we save Tea!"

Richie sighed. "Yeah, that's how Depre thought too," he replied. "To him – no, to all of us kids he raised, Master Pegasus was something like the sun." He glared at Yugi. "Do you understand? Without him, we can't survive!" He clenched his fist. "Depre wanted to see Master Pegasus again. That's all he wanted. Just that. . ."

"So I guess I'm duelling you next," said Yugi after a pause.

Richie ran his hands through his hair. "Well, yeah. If I were fighting for Depre, we'd do that. But you know I'm _not_ fighting for Depre. Sure, he was a fellow card professor, but I wouldn't put my neck on the line to avenge him. That's not my style." He turned his head to the side. "We card professors only meet up when we're duelling. We win or we lose, and that's it. This stuff happens."

"Especially when you get too big for your boots," muttered Gekko angrily.

"But you, Gekko!" yelled Richie. "You're the one I want to duel!" He pointed at his adoptive brother. "You're a traitor!" he roared. "You betrayed all of us who were raised by Master Pegasus!"

Gekko blinked in surprise. He nodded. "Yugi, I'll handle this." He stepped forward, shifting his duel disk to duelling mode. "Richie, I know how you feel about Master Pegasus's disappearance. But we can't drag others into this, especially when we never had all the facts. Not Yugi, or Miss Gardner, or the Kaiba Corporation." He clenched his fists. "This is something we should have dealt with ourselves, but Yako had to involve innocents!"

Richie shifted his black duel disk to duelling mode. "Hah! What do we care who we use or whose stuff we take? We live for Master Pegasus! Outsiders don't matter!" he yelled.

"Master Pegasus would never condone that sort of thing!" yelled Gekko.

"Yeah well, we'll ask him when we see him!" retorted Richie. He raised his black duel disk. "If you don't like it, try and stop me! C'mon and duel!"

Gekko sighed. "This has gone too far." He drew his starting hand. "Let's go!" he called, drawing a card as Richie drew his entire hand at once. "I play one card facedown!" he called. "Then I summon Learning Elf in defence mode!" (1400/1500) Gekko's bespectacled elf maiden appeared, clutching her tome. "I also equip her with Shield Reflector!" added Gekko, and a shield with the top left half replaced by a circular mirror appeared in the right hand of Learning Elf. "My turn's over."

"Feh!" laughed Richie. "You call that a monster? And you try to turn my attacks back on me? Okay, right back at you!" he laughed. "I also play a card facedown, and I use the Desert Mirage spell card!" he added. Then he grinned, and held up a card. "I summon Twin Gunfighter!" he yelled, and a Revolution-dressed man clutching twin pistols appeared. (1600/1000) "Destroy the elf!" yelled Richie. "Double Fire!"

Twin Gunfighter blasted two torrents of flame from his pistols, and they curved for Gekko and Learning Elf.

"Shield Reflectors effect activates!" called Gekko. It halves the attack points of the attacking monster, turns then back on you, and then it stops the attack if it can't break through my elf's defence!"

A blast of fire streaked towards Richie. He grinned. "Okay, right back at you!" he said again. "Once per turn, Mirage negates an effect or a direct attack that targets me!" he called. Sure enough, the blast shattered an illusionary Richie. He grinned. "For three turns, you can't touch me!" he called. "But you're not so lucky," he added, and the second flame smashed into Gekko, leaving a smoking circle on his leather coat. His life points dropped to 2400.

"Gekko!" cried Yugi in shock.

Richie burst out laughing. "One of Twin Gunfighters pistols is always aimed at your chest, slamming you with damage equal to its attack points!"

Yugi gasped. _So it hurts Gekko no matter the outcome of its attack? This could get hairy._

Richie snorted. "Sure, you used to be good, Gekko. There was a time when Master Pegasus called you the 'Perfect Duelist,' a time where I couldn't beat you no matter how hard I tried." He looked up. "But listen up. I left Master Pegasus and fought countless duels as a card professor. I climbed all the way to the top spot in the Card Professor's Guild." He raised his arm, showing them his duel disk. "I fought hard, and earned this black duel disk!" he called. "A disk that only the number one card professor gets to use!" He lowered his arm. "You may have been perfect once, but that's ancient history! I'll prove it to you!" He glared at Gekko and Yugi. "And after that, I'll be the one that Master Pegasus calls the 'Perfect Duelist!'" he roared.

"Richie," said Gekko sadly, watching his adoptive brother glare across the field at him.

**The black duel disk is actually where I first heard of Yu-Gi-Oh! R, believe it or not. Until I read the actual manga, I thought Richie was a little weed, but he's huge! It just looks and sounds awesome though. The **_**black duel disk**_**. No, I am NOT being racist.**

**And in the corner of white, we have the appearance in the anime of Number C32: Shark Drake Vice! The original is probably better, but Vice looks far cooler. Attention, for those who don't like Zexal, just like Shark. He's only fourteen, but he's badass. For example, he rides a motorcycle, can scare the pants off these two massive thugs (seriously, they could give Richie a run for his money), and, for a Joey role-type character, is so **_**not**_** funny. He just keeps his cool so well; it's like, damn, what froze you? Oh, and he's used four Numbers now. That's more than Kite, III, IV, or even Yuma have used.**

**Bah, I digress. I'll probably be able to finish Gekko's duel with Richie before my next exam, so it might be up in a couple of days. I still have to script Kaiba vs. Yako, and Richie's next duel though.**

**So, guys, once again, please rate and review!**


	22. Pegasus's Prodigies!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**Writing calms me down. With a week of free-ish time to me, it is a perfect pastime – that, and trying to make a BIONICLE version of the Coven – oops. I'm rambling. **

**Ah, what the hell, I said that I wasn't going to post this, but If you've been following Searching for Eden, by LordoftheRoses, then you'll have seen the explanation of how some stories are being removed. This does get me sweating – if it's due to grammar errors, then I'm screwed. But it makes a valid point.**

**Anyway, back to R! Oh, the Gekko fans are going to hate me so very, very much. . .**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Pegasus's Prodigies!_

"Black," remarked Richie. "The sum of all colours. This disk is the equivalent of a black belt in karate. This is proof that I've mastered all the training a duelist can have." He raised the black duel disk. "This black gleam will blot out your white, shining hope of victory!"

"Richie," sighed Gekko sadly.

_Gekko's duelling to rescue Tea with me, _thought Yugi. _To stop this insane plan of summoning the Pegasus's, and most of all, to get his old brother back!_ He clutched the chain of the Millennium Puzzle. _You have to win this Gekko!_

"It's my turn!" called Gekko, drawing. "I set one card facedown!" he called. Then he slid the card that he'd drawn into his disk. "Now, prepare to face Wonderbeat Elf!" he called, and an elf warrior holding two axe blades appeared. With his green armour and big clothes, he wouldn't have looked out of place in a Zelda game. (1700/1600) "Wonderbeat Elf delivers an extra attack for every other elf present!" called Gekko.

Richie snorted.

_Good! Gekko has Learning Elf on his side of the field,_ thought Yugi. _Wonderbeat Elf can take down Twin Gunfighter, and make a direct attack!_

"Wonderbeat Elf, attack!" called Gekko. The elf charged towards Twin Gunfighter.

Richie laughed. "Reveal my trap card!" he called. "Theft Whip! This card lets me steal your monsters equip card!" A whip appeared in Twin Gunfighters left hand, and he lashed out, ripping the Shield Reflector from the surprised Learning Elf. "Then I equip it to Twin Gunfighter!" called Richie, and the monster deftly caught the shield. "Now he takes half damage!" laughed Richie. "Damage that is dealt to you!"

Gekko cursed, his life points dropping to 1550.

"And hey! Look at that!" called Richie. "You elf special ability is gonna force him to attack Twin Gunfighter again!"

The elf slashed, but the blow went off the shield, and the recoil slammed into Gekko, dropping him to 700 life points.

_Wonderbeat Elf's special ability backfired!_ thought Yugi in horror.

Richie chuckled. "Looks like the gap's getting wider," he remarked. He gestured at Gekko's disk. "From what I'm seeing, your deck is made up of effect monsters, with low power, but strong abilities. It just so happens that my deck was built along the same lines." He grinned nastily. "But only a few turns in, and look at the gap in our life points.

He had a point, he was undamaged, and Gekko was at 700 life points.

"Think my draw was lucky?" asked Richie. "Or maybe we've got a difference in skill here."

"You may be right about that," agreed Gekko. "After we lost Master Pegasus, I stepped in to rebuild Industrial Illusions in his place, alongside Yako. But you, Richie, you became a card professor and devoted yourself to duelling in order to defeat Yugi Muto."

Richie snorted. "So what, you're losing because you didn't have time to practice? Sounds like somebody's making excuses!"

Gekko sighed. "Don't you realize? Your growth is a direct result of losing Master Pegasus!"

"Wh-what?" protested Richie in shock.

"Pegasus raised us," continued Gekko. "But we've learned to stand on our own two feet." He clenched his fist. "And now you want him to return at the cost of someone else's _life_?" he asked incredulously. "So we can depend on him for everything, the way we did before?"

"You shut your mouth!" roared Richie. "You're telling me it's good that Master Pegasus vanished?"

"Of course not!" yelled Gekko in horror. "I'm only saying we can't stay Master Pegasus's children forever!"

"You're wrong!" yelled Richie. "A world without Master Pegasus isn't worth living in! We lost someone important to us, and we're taking him back! That's all there is to it!"

"Richie," Gekko snarled. Yugi stepped back; the resemblance to Yako when he was angry was frightening.

"Gekko," said Richie at last. "You've changed. You're not like the rest of us. And if that's the case, I have to defeat you!" he yelled, drawing a card. "Now I summon Pierce Musketeer!" he called. (1700/1000) A woman in an old blue dress appeared, clutching a musket. "This femme fatale delivers damage to monsters that are in defence mode!" called Richie. "Take this, Gekko!" he yelled. "Pierce Musketeer and Twin Gunfighter, attack!" he yelled, and the two monsters opened fire.

"Oh no! Gekko!" cried Yugi in shock.

"Reveal trap card!" yelled Gekko. "Divine Sacrifice!" he called. "All the damage is absorbed by the fairy-type Learning Elf in defence mode!" he called. The elf shattered, the three rounds blasting her to pieces.

"Tch, you wise guy," muttered Richie.

"Because Learning Elf has been sent to the graveyard, I draw one card," said Gekko.

"All right!" said Yugi happily. "He managed to get through this turn without taking any damage!"

Richie sighed. "I'll play a card facedown, and end my turn!"

"My turn!" yelled Gekko, drawing. "Now I activate the spell card, Pot of Greed, drawing two more cards!" He drew his cards, and slid one into his disk. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying that Shield Reflector you stole from me!"

Richie cursed. _Great, now he can get rid of my Gunfighter._

Gekko sighed. "We had no relatives. To us, our lord, Master Pegasus, was our only family. You and I know how much it hurts to lose someone that special. We mustn't let that happen to anyone else."

Richie stared back at Gekko, expressionless.

"I now activate the Mist Body equip spell!" yelled Gekko. Then he touched a button on his disk. "This is it!" he called. "I reveal the spell card, Sacrifice of Grave Goods! This card lets me count a sacrifice's equip spell as an additional sacrifice!" he called. "I sacrifice both Wonderbeat Elf and his Mist Body!"

_No way! What's he summoning?_ thought Richie in horror.

"I summon the seven star monster, Angel O7!" yelled Gekko. (2500/1500) A mighty white angel with a small bit of purple under its armoured skin rose up behind Gekko. It possessed no visible limbs, but the bulk of its massive upper body didn't hinder it at all.

"No way!" protested Richie. "Not that card!" He cursed under his breath. _When that monster is summoned with a sacrifice, it negates the effects of all the other monsters on the field! Now my monsters are just normal monsters!_

"Angel O7, attack!" yelled Gekko. "Take out Twin Gunfighter with Angel Beam Buster!"

The angel blasted a beam from the amethyst in its forehead, shattered the gunslinger.

Richie cursed as his life points fell to 3100. _Darn it! Desert Mirage doesn't work on battle damage from monsters!_

"Nice move!" called Yugi. "You're making a comeback, Gekko!"

"I'll play one card facedown," said Gekko. "That ends my turn. All right Richie, it's your move."

Richie drew, frustrated. _Angel O7 is the worst kind of enemy that I could face,_ he thought angrily. _My monsters _all_ have special abilities. _"I play one more card facedown, then I summon Grenadier in defence mode!" he called. A gentleman in a heavy black suit appeared, clutching a short grenade launcher. (1500/1100) "I switch Pierce Musketeer to defence mode, and end my turn," finished Richie.

"My turn!" called Gekko. "I summon Boomerang Elf!" he called, and an elf in blue garb, clutching a black boomerang that was as long as he was appeared. "Angel O7 and Boomerang Elf, attack!" called Gekko. "Destroy the Musketeer and the Grenadier!"

_All right! He wasn't able to inflict damage on Richie,_ thought Yugi. _But he wiped out all his monsters! He's got the upper hand!_

_This duel isn't over yet,_ pointed out Yami Yugi.

"Richie, it's your turn," said Gekko.

Richie drew. "Desert Mirages effect expires. I end my turn."

Yugi gasped.

"Richie," said Gekko. "It's over." He drew – Graceful Charity.

_I don't need to use this now,_ thought Gekko. "I attack!" he yelled. His two monsters charged. _Richie! You will let us pass!_

Richie grinned, and, ever so slowly, moved his hand towards his disk.

Both his trap cards flipped open, and a blast of blinding light dazzled Yugi's eyes. Just as he recovered, he heard Gekko cry out in horror.

"Wh-no!" he cried. "How did you?"

Richie just watched Gekko's life points fall to zero.

_Gekko!_ thought Yugi in horror.

**Dun-dun-dunn!**

**Please don't kill me for ending it like this. It's the originals fault, I swear!**

**The loss will be explained next chapter – but Richie's job isn't over yet. There's still one seriously annoyed nut-job wanting a piece of him, and Joey is still at large, not to mention Kaiba's eventual face-off with Yako.**

**Hmm. I can't think of something else to say. Oh well.**

**Rate and review, please!**


	23. To Each His Own Battle!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**Warning: The beginning of this chapter; is awesome. I'm sorry; I can't sneak in a hair remark. You'll see what I mean.**

**Oh, the Gekko fans are going to hate me so very, very much . . . again. Now I explain the reason for their hate.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_To Each His Own Battle!_

In the corridors of KaibaCorp, a bald Industrial Illusions guard grabbed the phone on the door.

"Hey!" called the man on the other side, a broad fellow with a large spike of hair. "What's going on down there? Did you find them?"

"M. Kemo," groaned the man. "We . . . we couldn't stop them." Unconscious bodies littered the corridor behind him. "Watch out f . . ." he croaked, collapsing.

"What?" asked Kemo. "I can't hear you! Hey! What happened? What's going on?"

"Mr. Kemo!" yelled another suit. "Someone's using the elevator!"

Kemo froze. Tenma had told him the elevators were off line. "What?" he asked in surprise.

The elevator door opened.

"ORAAAAAA!" cried Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor, knocking down the guard.

Kemo growled. "Wheeler! Taylor!"

Joey grinned. "Are you guys gonna get in our way too?" he said, cracking his knuckles. He dashed forward, rugby tackling another man and slamming him into Kemo. "Take this, you dumb suit!"

"Mokuba!" yelled Tristan. "Which way do we go?"

"This way!" yelled Mokuba Kaiba, crouching low.

"Great!" replied Tristan. "Let's get a move on!"

"Take that!" yelled Joey, hitting the suit in the stomach. "And that and that and-!"

"Hey, Joey!" yelled Tristan from down the corridor. "Stop wasting time beating up dudes! The exit's this way!"

"Huh?" asked Joey, dropping the suit.

"Get him!" roared Kemo furiously.

"Oh sure, now you tell me!" yelled Joey, sprinting away from the suits. When they were almost caught up, Joey turned and knocked all of them down with a leg sweep, then ran backwards, sticking his tongue out.

"No!" yelled Kemo. "We can't let them reach the Duel Ring server! After them, all of you!" he yelled, struggling out from under his men.

Joey mused as he caught up to Tristan. "I've been duelling for so long, it's been a while since I was in an actual fight," he muttered.

"Huh?" asked Tristan as they ran. "What was that, Joey?"

"Nothin'!" said Joey. "Never mind!" _But you're winning your way up here by duelling, aren't you Yugi?_

_Yugi and Gekko._

"Gekko!" cried Yugi, as the Tenma brother sank to his knees, life points at zero.

Richie laughed. "Gekko! I win!" he yelled.

"Richie," groaned Gekko angrily.

"You were in too much of a hurry to win," said Richie. "That's why you lost. It's over."

Gekko thought back to the last turn. It had all happened so _fast_.

_A few minutes ago._

"_I attack!" yelled Gekko, and Boomerang Elf and Angel O7 charged at Richie. _Richie!, _thought Gekko. _You will let us pass!

_Richie laughed. "Reveal trap card!" he yelled. A blinding light suddenly illuminated the area._

"_What?" asked Gekko in shock._

"_The light?" asked Yugi._

"_Dazzling Radiance!" called Richie. "A trap to dazzle your monsters, and allow me to take control of Angel O7, using it to strike your Boomerang Elf as the light disorientates them! Angel Beam Buster!"_

"_Boomerang Shot!" countered Gekko, the attacks launching for each other._

"_Oh no!" cried Yugi. "If Gekko's elf takes that much damage then he'll lose!"_

"_Reveal trap card!" yelled Gekko. "Amulet of Affection! Now my elf is equipped with the power to reduce his damage to zero!"_

_The boomerang, rather than being shattered by the laser, curved past, and smashed into Richie. He grimaced, life points dropping to 1300._

"_What the-?" protested Gekko. "How did Richie end up getting hit?"_

"_I activated the trap card, Grazing Blast!" called Richie. Thanks to this card, the attacks of the monster go straight to the player opposing them!"_

"_What?" asked Gekko in shock._

"_Here it comes!" yelled Richie. "Angel O7's laser!"_

_The blast smashed into Gekko, dropping his life points to zero._

_Now._

"Gekko," whispered Yugi, looking at his friend's fallen form.

"Gekko!" said Richie. "If you were duelling the way you normally do, you'd have had a counter for that move! The reason you didn't, was because you're not like the rest of use orphans. You still have family – your brother!" He sighed. "You wanted to save Yako, and it made you act without thinking."

"No, that's not true!" protested Yugi. "You're telling us he lost because he cared about his only brother? How is that different from you? You're duelling for the Pegasus's!"

"Yeah, I duel for Master Pegasus," replied Richie. "But I wasn't duelling to protect someone the way Gekko was!" He grimaced, as he recalled painful memories.

He saw himself in ragged clothes, scrounging in a dustbin. "When I was a kid, my world was dirt and trash." He saw himself crawling out of a drain. "I crawled in the slime, like I wasn't even alive." Finally, he sat, crouched in an alley. A shadow fell over him, and he clenched his fists, thinking he was about to be assaulted. But standing over him was the silver haired form of Maximillion Pegasus, holding a deck of cards.

"Come with me, my boy," said Pegasus. "No-one should live like this. Take this deck. Train with it. And I'll give you a home. I shall give you a family." He placed the deck into Richie's hands.

The boy cradled it preciously. "The one who taught me how to live, how to live as a duelist, was Master Pegasus." Richie thumped his chest as he locked eyes with Yugi. "Master Pegasus gave me my life! So I'm duelling to get him back his, the life that you stole from him after you beat him! This was a duel of wills!" he yelled. He turned, and walked down the corridor. "I'm not some spoiled little kid who's scared of losing!"

"Wait!" protested Yugi.

Richie looked back. "Yugi Muto. You remember your promise, don't you?"

Yugi gasped in shock.

"You agreed to have Gekko fight for you, and he lost," said Richie. "This is as far as you go."

Yugi tried to speak, but couldn't find the words. Yami Yugi retreated, giving Yugi some time.

Gekko sobbed silently, his tears hitting the floor.

"Wait!" yelled Yugi, but Richie had disappeared through the door, which closed behind him.

"Nwaaaahhh!" screamed Gekko in frustration. "I . . . I'm so sorry . . . Yugi," he choked. "It's all my fault. . . I'm so sorry. . ."

Yugi turned and ran for the door. "Please! Open the door!" he cried, beating it with his fists. "Please open it! We have to get to Yako . . ." He faltered. "We have to save Tea. . ." He fell to his knees. "Nooooo!" he screamed.

Apex Arena.

On top of the KaibaCorp building, Willa Mette lay on the ground, arms crossed behind his back, feeling the cool air wafting across his face.

Suddenly, he heard the floor rumble.

"Hey," he muttered, lifting himself up. "What's going on?"

Then a blast of light illuminated the tower-top.

Willa laughed. "Well, isn't that something?" he mused.

A large arena had risen from the platform, bearing Seto Kaiba and Yako Tenma. Both duelists stared at each other, resolve in their gazes that made even the easy-going Willa flinch.

Down below.

"Well played Master Richie," said one of the suits.

"Yeah," said Richie softly. He'd heard Yugi's screams, but to let him through would mean Pegasus's loss would be permanent. Still. . . "What's the situation like?" he asked.

"According to Master Yako, the final phase of the Project is about to begin," replied the suit.

"Really?" asked Richie in surprise.

"However, there's been a _slight_ problem," admitted the suit.

"What?" asked Richie.

"Mokuba Kaiba and the duelist Joey Wheeler have teamed up, and they appear to be heading for the Duel Ring server," said the suit carefully.

"What?" yelled Richie. "And you people can't stop them?"

The suit bowed. "I-I'm sorry, sir," he said.

Richie snorted, not seeing the shadowed figure on a balcony two floors up. "Fine, I'll take care of them! Where are they now?"

The figure grinned. Then, Bandit Keith leaped onto the rail, pushed off, and launched himself at Richie.

Richie heard it coming, but was too late to block the fist that knocked him to the ground and sent him flying.

"Take that!" roared Keith.

"Master Richie!" cried the suit, hurrying to the card professor's side.

"Thanks for the favour, Richie!" laughed Bandit Keith. "That's payback for before!" He burst out in mad cackles.

Richie groaned, wiping his face. "Bandit Keith, you lousy old man. You just had to do it, didn't you?" he yelled furiously. He aimed a leg sweep, but Keith jumped back quickly, with his lighter frame giving him more speed than before. "You think you can beat me?" yelled Richie as Keith snickered. "You're nothing but a guinea pig for Cecelia Pegasus's summoning!" snarled Richie. "Wanna go back to the shadows?"

Bandit Keith laughed. "Who cares about your experiments, you dumb fool!" He clenched his fist. "The reason I'm here right now, is so I can get revenge on the guys who made a fool out of me!" He grinned. "Now that one of them's out of the picture, I've got one target left! Joey Wheeler! No way I'm giving him to you!" Then he grinned, and the duel disk he was wearing shifted to duelling mode. "But y'know, I just got back to this world. I'm not used to all the new game rules yet." He grinned darkly. "This time you're _my_ guinea pig!"

As Richie struggled to his feet Bandit Keith called out:

"Prepare to duel, Richie Merced!"

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: Four.**

**I decided to sneak that bit with Yako and Kaiba in there because I thought that it had been a while since they'd featured. This will probably the last chapter for a while.**

**And I've scripted the Yako vs. Kaiba duel. Unlike Yugi vs. Yako, it won't be that much altered, but altered to provide reason, as it is **_**awesome**_** and doesn't need altering. I'll also do the duel between Bandit Keith and Richie Merced – the original manga only shows the end, and I want to reveal – oops, shutting up.**

**Review, please guys! I know you have better things to do than read my adaptions, but it motivates me!**


	24. Apex Arena!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**Warning: This entire duel; is awesome. Oh, the Yako fans are going to hate me so very, very much . . . There will be Yako-bashing. I know that I said I wouldn't update this for a while, but it was a review. But I really can't do this for another week. I have to study, and I hate it because I'm not great at studying. But, somehow, I'll get through. I'm sure of it! Arhh! Typing this is getting me pumped up! I'm on fire! C'mon, come at me exam! Okay, now the fire's dying. But I've just discovered a new way to motivate myself.**

**But as I just said, this duel is awesome. Next chapter, Keith and Richie will duke it out as well, and, as that is almost entirely original, I hope you'll like it guys!**

**I'm also amazed that I haven't been attacked for plagiarism while I'm doing this. Or is fanfiction nice like that?**

**anon: Okay, I'll continue this. Be careful, I update regularly (when I'm not busy and/or stressed!)**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Apex Arena!_

KaibaCorp Apex

Seto Kaiba looked disdainfully down at Willa Mette with a snort. "Are _you_ still here?" he remarked coldly. He turned back to Yako. "I can't believe this! Letting goons like him run all over my building! I'm so furious I don't know where to start!"

Yako kept his cool. "And yet, even as you rage, my Project is nearing its completion. If you are a duelist, you cannot defy the laws of _power_." He grinned. "In other words, you don't have what it takes to stop this Project."

Kaiba exploded. "Are you saying I'll lose? To you?" he yelled.

Yako just stared back at him.

"Getting the Wicked Gods has bloated your ego!" yelled Kaiba. "If you're truly worthy of owning a God card, then prove it! Show it to me!" He slotted his deck into his disk. "After I tear you apart, you and your God cards will grovel at my feet!"

Yako laughed softly.

Kaiba seethed. "I'll reset your entire Project to zero!" he yelled, his disk switching to duelling mode. "Let's duel!" He drew his starting hand.

Yako's disk switched to duelling mode, and he drew his own hand.

"I go first!" said Kaiba. "I play one card facedown!" he called, slapping a card onto his disk. "Then I summon Material Bat in defence mode!" (1200/1700) A black and crimson reptilian bat appeared behind Kaiba, stretching its wings. "That ends my turn!" said the CEO.

Yako drew, chuckling. "I'll set two cards facedown. Then I end my turn."

Kaiba reeled in shock. _What? _thought the CEO. _He's ending his turn without summoning a monster?_

"Eh?" asked Willa. "What's up with Yako? Card trouble?"

Kaiba was thinking the same thing. _Or is he laying some sort of trap?_ he mused as he drew. "I summon Material Lion!" he yelled. (1800/1500) A yellow armoured lion with a bright yellow mane appeared in front of him. "Here I come, Yako!" yelled the CEO. _Your trap cards don't scare me!_ he thought. "Material Lion, attack Yako directly!" he yelled. "Scratch Claw!"

Yako closed his eyes, and grimaced as the lion swiped its claws across his chest.

"What?" cried Kaiba as Yako's life points decreased to 2200. _He didn't take any steps to protect himself, _thought Kaiba. _He just took all the damage. _"You didn't activate a trap when I summoned my monster or when I attacked," he observed with a grin. "I take it that means those facedown cards of yours are just an empty bluff?" he asked.

"We'll see," replied Yako.

Kaiba stared at him for a few seconds, and then slotted a card into the field zone of his disk. "I play one card facedown and end my turn!" he called. _Just what is his strategy? _he thought as Yako drew.

"I'll play another card facedown, and end my turn," said Yako.

_What?_ thought Kaiba in shock.

"Whoa, Yako's got guts," remarked Willa. "What's he doing, using just spell and trap cars, but without monsters? Jeez, I can't believe he'd choose such a hard strategy. It can be tricky playing against a deck like that, but I can't see it working on Seto Kaiba."

Kaiba was thinking along the same lines again. _This is absurd! I won't even _have_ to use my trump card! I'll finish him off this turn!_ "It's my turn!" called Kaiba, drawing a card. "And now, I sacrifice my two material monsters in order to bring out one chimera!" he called. Material Bat and Material Lion vanished, and a massive lion with the wings of the bat and a black scorpion tail appeared behind Kaiba. (2800/2500) "This is the mythical beast known as Mosaic Manticore!" yelled Kaiba.

And then, Yako activated a facedown, and Mosaic Manticore appeared behind him.

"Why do you have a Mosaic Manticore?" protested Kaiba.

Yako laughed. "Behold my trap card, Chronic Déjà Vu!" he called. "This trap summons a monster identical to the one you just summoned!"

Kaiba growled. _If I attack, they'll only end up destroying each other, and both monsters will be wasted!_ Then he grinned, and starting howling with laughter, much to Yako's shock. "Did you think such makeshift tactics like that would work on me?" he laughed. He touched the side of his disk. "I reveal my face-down field spell card! Alpha-Wave Admission Virus!" he yelled.

Suddenly, small green particles drifted across the field. Both Manticores began hacking and faltering with low roars, dropping to 2500 attack points.

"What?" asked Yako in shock, growling with frustration.

"This card drains 300 attack points from all monsters on the field!" yelled Kaiba. "Furthermore, they become unable to attack!"

"But that goes for your Manticore as well!" protested Yako.

Kaiba just laughed. "And now, I play this card from my hand!" he continued. "I use Vaccination to render my Mosaic Manticore unaffected by the effects of any Virus cards!" He burst out laughing as Mosaic Manticore returned to its full 2800 attack points. "Mosaic Manticore, attack!" yelled Kaiba. "Fire Breath!"

Mosaic Manticore blasted a wave of hot flame from its mouth at Yako's Manticore, and shredded it to pieces. Yako choked, as his life points hit 1900. But he quickly touched a button on his duel disk. "I play my spell card!" he called. "Go, Fires of Doomsday! Now, two Doomsday Tokens are called to my field to serve me!" (0/0)

Two twisted one-eyed spectres of black flame appeared in front of Yako.

Kaiba just shrugged. "All right, it's your move!" he called. "Now draw!"

Yako did so, fuming. "I sacrifice the two Doomsday Tokens, and summon Belial, the Marquis of Darkness!" he called. (2800/2400) The form of a muscular dark angel appeared behind Yako, clutching a cross-styled sword. "Belial, the Marquis of Darkness, is immune to the effects of your field spell," said Yako. "Furthermore, I set another card facedown and end my turn."

"I see," replied Kaiba. "It's a stalemate again." He grinned. "So this is all you're worth as a duelist," he remarked coldly.

Yako gritted his teeth angrily.

"Did you think you could beat me with such a half-baked strategy?" snarled Kaiba as he drew. "It's my turn now!" He dug around in his graveyard, and pulled out two cards. "During my turn after Mosaic Manticore is summoned, its summoning materials revive with no attack and defence points!" he explained. The forms of Material Lion and Material Bat appeared on the field in front of Kaiba. "The card I need to crush you is already in my hand!" yelled Kaiba, selecting a card. "I now sacrifice Mosaic Manticore and Material Bat!" he yelled, and the two monsters vanished. Kaiba slammed the card into his disk. "Arise! Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" he yelled. (3000/2500)

The mighty white dragon roared that terrifying roar, and bared its sharp teeth at Yako, hovering majestically behind Kaiba.

"When a monster equipped with Vaccination is sacrificed, the summoned monster inherits the vaccine, and the immunity to the Virus!" explained Kaiba. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Attack, with White Lightning!" he yelled.

The dragon opened its mouth, and blasted a surge of electrical energy, engulfing Belial and blowing it away. Yako cried out as his life points dropped to 1700.

"You aren't qualified to possess a God card!" yelled Kaiba. "Yako Tenma! Leave your Wicked God cards and get off my property now!"

**Awesome! Blue-Eyes always brings forth a feeling of, oh we're screwed now.**

**And next chapter will be heavy. Heavy duelling, and a heavy rivalry from both sets of duelists. By the way, I changed Alpha-Wave Emission to Alpha-Wave Admission Virus to keep the trend shown by Crush Card Virus, Deck Destruction Virus, Eradicator Epidemic Virus, and Planet Pollutant Virus, etc. I like my name better (well, I am a selfish fool, so of course I do!)**

**And, just to keep my optimism high, I'm fired up! My blood is boiling! My exams will be conquered! I will take this **_**so**_** goddamn seriously! I could go on, but I won't, because you probably don't want to read my waffling about my new fiery spirit! Arhh!**

**Alright, please review!**


	25. Summon the Wicked God!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**I need to pump myself up again! I'll have finished another two exams by the time I update this! Yes! I'm feeling it! Come at me bro! (That sounds so less cool when I find out that it's from Jersey Shore, goddammit.) But no! I'm losing my fire! Now it's back! It's Kaiba vs. Yako! I'm putting Keith against Richie! I could go on! But I will not!**

**And also, when the Yugi vs. Yako duel comes up, do you readers want it to be altered, or stay the same? If it's the former, do you want a more correct version of the original manga, a tidier version of my interpretation, or all six gods summoned one by one? Please tell me, this is what I **_**most**_** want to hear in a review right now.**

**Violet: Thanks! Well, as you've no doubt interpreted from my comments above, your wish is my command. Although extended isn't the right word for what they showed us.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Summon the Wicked God!_

_Pegasus Mansion, some time ago._

"_I attack with Rogue Doll!" called Gekko Tenma._

_Yako shielded his eyes, and slammed his hands on the duel table. "I lost. . ." he moaned._

"_Phew," said Gekko, reshuffling his deck. "Didn't think I was going to win that one!" He pocketed the cards. "Hey, Yako!" he called. "That was a pretty good combo. You really had me sweating," he said. He tapped Yako's field cards. "But the cards you've got now aren't quite the best ones for that combo," he said, pulling out a notepad. "Let's see," he murmured, writing down a list. "Here are some support cards that might be helpful, and they're good for other things too," he murmured. He held up the pad. "Here, suggest this to Master Pegasus," he said, but then he stopped, as Yako stood up jerkily. "Yako? What's wrong?"_

"_Gekko," replied Yako quietly. "We have the same face."_

"_Of course we do," said Gekko in surprise. "We're twins."_

"_We were born the same," continued Yako. "Master Pegasus took us both in and we both received the same training."_

"_Right," said Gekko, catching on. "And we've both grown as duelists by competing against each other like this."_

"_Then why?" asked Yako. "Why does he call _you_ the 'Perfect Duelist'?" He clenched his fist. "While I . . ."_

"_You're still a diamond in the rough, Yako-boy," echoed Pegasus's voice from some time ago. "You're not quite ready yet!"_

_Yako turned away from his brother and ran, anywhere._

"_Yako, wait!" called Gekko. "Master Pegasus thinks you're . . ."_

Why, Master Pegasus?_ thought Yako miserably._

"_You guys are identical twins, so why is your brother so much better?"_

"_Oh, it's _him_. The non-perfect one."_

"_It's like you're a bad copy of Gekko."_

A bad copy_ thought Yako miserably. _Huh?

_A bright blaze of light was reaching out for him, shredding a monster standing in front of him . . ._

_Now, KaibaCorp Apex._

"White Lightning!" yelled Seto Kaiba, the attack of Blue-Eyes White Dragon shattering Belial.

"I play one card facedown, and end my turn!" called Kaiba.

_Below._

Richie Merced's disk shifted to duelling mode. "Come and get some, you old fool!" he yelled angrily.

Bandit Keith just studied his hand. "Calm down, Richie," he said. "I told you, I'm adjusting to the new rules. So get ready, guinea pig!" he laughed. He selected a card. "I summon Engine Shell in defence mode!" he said, playing a card. (1300/1800)

A monster that looked like a . . . well, an engine with two hemispheres each attached to a chain from its body appeared.

"Then I'll put these down on the field," said Keith. "That'll do for now."

"This is your last duel, old man!" yelled Richie, drawing a card. "If you're gonna get in the way of Pegasus's return, I'll strike you down!" He slid a card into his disk. "I summon Fuse Ray Blaster!" he called. (1600/800) A caped figure in rough clothes holding a musket appeared. "Next, I activate a spell!" called Richie. "Blaster Cartridge! It lets me draw one card, then discard four from my deck. Afterwards, I reload my deck with this card." He drew a card, slid four into the graveyard with a grin, and placed the Blaster Cartridge card on the top of his deck. "Now, I activate the spell card, Monster Reborn!" he called. "I bring back Fuse Ray Blaster from the graveyard!" he called. "Now, when I summon another Fuse Ray Blaster, you take 800 points of damage!" added the card professor.

"What?" yelled Bandit Keith angrily, before yelling out in pain as a barrage of lasers smashed into him, reducing his life points to 3200. "I'll set two cards as well," said Richie. "Try to keep up, old man!"

"Shut your mouth!" roared Keith drawing. "I summon Engine Shell in defence mode!" he yelled, and another hemisphere flanked engine appeared in front of him. "Now go!" he yelled.

Richie snickered. "Am I a good guinea pig, Keith?" he taunted. "You're out of your league." He drew and grinned. "I play my Pot of Greed, and I draw two cards!" he said. He drew quickly and burst out laughing. "Take this old man!"

"Be quiet!" yelled Keith, clenching his fist.

"Sorry," remarked Richie. "I summon Fuse Ray Blaster!" he yelled. Another musketeer appeared, and the other two shot Keith with another barrage of force, dropping him to 1600 life points.

Keith cursed, and ever so slowly, moved his hand to his disk. "Sorry, Richie," he said. "You're through."

_KaibaCorp Apex._

"It's your turn!" called Kaiba, watching a dejected Yako standing there. He grinned. "Why not admit defeat and surrender!" he asked. "Of course, if you'd rather struggle futilely until your life points run out – like the poor excuse of a duelist you are, that's fine by me! Draw a card!"

_Draw . . . or surrender?_ thought Yako, moving his hand to his duel disk.

Suddenly, dark smoke seemed to pour from his duel disk.

_Wh-What's this?_ thought Yako in surprise. _In my deck . . . the Wicked Gods . . ._

His right eye bulged. Yako moved his fingers onto his deck, and he drew his card.

Kaiba shrugged. _So he's going to fight until the end, is he? I just hope he at least lasts long enough to lose to my ultimate monster._

"I summon Agathion," said Yako, and a red-orange, flame-like familiar appeared, cackling. (600/500) "Then I place one card facedown, and I end my turn," he finished.

Kaiba burst out laughing. "What's that supposed to be?" he said. "Even for someone postponing the inevitable, that move was pathetic! It's as if you're telling me to just overlook this turn!" He drew. "Now, it's my turn!" he called. "I activate the spell card Cross Shift from my hand!" he called. "I retrieve my Material Lion, and summon the Lord of Dragons to the field!" (1200/1100) A blue and gold armoured spellcaster appeared, hacking as the virus affected him.

_Huh? _thought Willa in surprise. _That's just a four-star monster. He could have summoned it normally, so why go to the trouble of using Cross Shift?_

"Now, I activate a facedown card!" called Kaiba. "The Melody of Awakening Dragon!" he called. A golden axe/guitar hybrid appeared in the Lord of Dragons' hands, and he began to strum it, producing music that keened forth in long notes. "At the cost of raising my dragons, I send my Material Lion to the graveyard," explained Kaiba.

Willa gasped. _So that's why he used Cross Shift! He'd factored in the cost of summoning!_

Kaiba slid two cards out of his deck. "I'll add these two dragons to my hand," he said, "and flip another facedown card! The Flute of Summoning Dragon!" The golden dragon flute appeared, and the Lord of Dragons blew into it.

_There are no holes in that combo!_ thought Willa, impressed. _It's perfect!_

"Now, with the combined Melodies, I summon these cards!" yelled Kaiba. "My Blue-Eyes White Dragons!"

Behind him, a blaze of light erupted from the ground, as first one, then another white majestic dragon rose up behind Kaiba. As one, they all roared at Yako.

Kaiba laughed. "But don't worry, Yako!" he called. "They may be Blue-Eyes White Dragons, but they're still affected by the Alpha-Wave Admission Virus field spell!" Then he grinned. "All except for the one that's been vaccinated.

Yako didn't answer, just stared at the ground.

"Burn his puny monster!" yelled Kaiba. "Blue-Eyes, attack with White Lightning!"

The Blue-Eyes blasted a stream of lightning, dispelling the flames of Agathion.

Kaiba grinned. "Faced with my Blue-Eyes White Dragons, you won't even have enough sacrifices to call on these Wicked Gods!" He pointed across the field at Yako. "There! It's you turn!" he yelled.

Yako drew his card. "I activate the spell card, Pot of Greed," he said. "Now I draw two more cards." He shrugged. "I end my turn."

Willa looked at his employer in shock, while Kaiba grinned in triumph. _What's wrong with Yako?_ thought the card professor in surprise. _Did he give up?_

Kaiba grinned. "I'd hoped to see your 'Wicked God'," he admitted. "But I guess you aren't a good enough duelist yet." He drew. "My turn." The CEO looked at the card and smiled. "Apparently, my deck wants me to settle this with my ultimate monster," he said.

Yako kept his cool, while Willa's mind was racing. _Kaiba's ultimate monster – the key to his most devastating strategies! They say that its strength exceeds that of the Egyptian God cards!_

"I activate Polymerization from my hand!" yelled Kaiba. "Now, I fuse my three Blue-Eyes into the ultimate monster, the most glorious and powerful of them all!"

Behind Kaiba, the three Blue-Eyes were twisted into a spiral, which uncoiled into a mighty blue dragon. It was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but leaner, and with wing-like guards on its hip. Most strikingly of all were its three heads, each with a symbol adorning the topmost crest, spiked in three directions. (4500/3800)

"Behold, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" roared Kaiba, as the mighty creature let out a roar.

Yako touched a button on his disk, and suddenly, the ground began to shake.

A massive white head forced itself out of the ground behind Yako, and a mighty white dragon hovered behind him, hacking as it inhaled the virus. It was followed by another, and another, until three were assembled behind Yako.

"Three . . ." whispered a dumbstruck Willa.

"Blue-Eyes," gasped Kaiba in shock. _Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons on _Yako's_ field?_

Yako grinned, right eye bulging. Then he burst out in insane laughter. "I've been waiting for you to summon your Ultimate Dragon!" he laughed. "Take a look at my facedown trap card, Junk Dealer!" he called. "When you sacrificed your dragons to summon your so-called ultimate monster, this trap allowed me to take a few things you threw away."

"Impossible!" yelled Kaiba, before regaining control. "And yet, because I sacrificed them, the Vaccination is passed on to my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" he yelled. "I won't let you have my dragons!" he yelled. "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack with Neutron Blast!" he yelled.

The mighty dragon opened its three mouths, and blasted a combined stream of lightning at the middle Blue-Eyes.

"No, Kaiba!" yelled Yako. "Your beloved dragons will bring your worst nightmare to life!" He touched another button on his disk. "Go, Negate Attack!" he yelled, and the three tornados absorbed the streams of lightning. Yako laughed at Kaiba. "I believe that you're out of moves." He drew with a grin, the card smoked with dark energy. "And now, you're out of time. My Wicked God, descend to me," he whispered.

Kaiba gasped, as the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons vanished in a tornado.

"Seto Kaiba, let me show you," whispered Yako, sliding a card into his disk.

_Below_

"Go, trap card!" bellowed Bandit Keith. "Torrential Tribute!" he yelled.

Richie cursed as a blast of water shredded everything on the field. _Curse you, Keith, I can't make another move!_

Bandit Keith laughed at Richie. "Oh, and when my Engine Shells hit the scrap heap, they left behind a little Engine Part each," he added, gesturing to two smoking piles of scrap on the ground in front of him.

Richie frowned. _That's gonna make it _real_ easy for him to bring out a high level monster._

"Now, it's my turn!" yelled Keith, drawing. He grinned. "Prepare to suffer, Richie."

"I summon the Wicked Avatar!" yelled Yako.

A spot of black formed above the field, and expanded into an orb a few meters in diameter.

_Is this the Wicked God?_ thought Kaiba. _It's like a black sun, like the Winged Dragon of Ra!_

"And now, the god will change its form," said Yako.

The orb swirled and shifted, settling into a new form, which uncoiled into a mighty black dragon. It was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but leaner, and with wing-like guards on its hip. Most strikingly of all were its three heads, each with a symbol adorning the topmost crest, spiked in three directions.

_The Wicked God just turned into my Ultimate Dragon! _thought Kaiba in horror.

"Seto Kaiba," whispered Yako, right eye bulging. "Sink into deepest darkness."

**Writing this felt epic. Was it epic? Please tell me if it was! But most of all, please tell me what version of Yugi vs. Yako that you'd prefer! Please!**

**Agathion also appears to be the Duel Monsters form of Red Nova's familiar, from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, and duels in the most awesome way of the series. Not even kidding. Yeah, I'm out of stuff to say.**


	26. The Invincible 1!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**My exams are over! Three weeks of time where I can upload chapters, and unleash Evolzar Solda! Hopefully this chapter will be another awesome chapter, as it has more Wicked God action. I also got hold of Dreadroot! Only one more to go . . . **

**By the way, for anyone who noticed I used pretty much the exact same descriptions for Avatar when it changed forms that was just to highlight that it was doing that. I won't be doing that any longer, if it's bugged you. I'll probably speed upload a few chapters and then slow down. And yes, I know I may have buggered up the chaining, but that happened the first time Richie tried to pull this off.**

**Note: Creative Credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_The Invincible "1"_

Yako Tenma had a shark-like grin on his face as he stared down Seto Kaiba. The CEO was gaping in shock at the Wicked Avatar, now a black duplicate of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

_This is madness!_, thought Kaiba in horror. _The Wicked God transformed into a duplicate of my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon? _"You're telling me this is a Wicked God card?" he cried in shock. "Your God card took the form of my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon?" _But no,_ he thought. _It's not just a clone of my dragon. _He gritted his teeth. _What is this? I've never felt such overwhelming evil before!_

Yako laughed, right eye bulging. "This Wicked Avatar has no shape of its own. It takes the form of the most powerful monster on the field – in this case, your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

Kaiba blanched. "My Blue-Eyes gave it that shape?" he asked.

"That's right," replied Yako. "But the Wicked Avatar doesn't merely _look_ like your dragon." He grinned. "It has the same attack and defence points . . . or should I say . . . the same attack and defence points _plus one._"

Kaiba gasped. _It – it can't be!_

"Yes," continued Yako. "At this moment, the Wicked Avatar has an attack strength one point higher than your dragon – an attack power of 4501!" he yelled. He burst into insane cackles, highlighted by his bulging eye. "Think of that! It's only one point, but it means there's a decisive difference, an unclosable gap, between the power of your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and that of my Wicked Ultimate Dragon!" he yelled.

Kaiba sweated, thinking furiously. _My Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon surpassed even Obelisk the Tormentor in attack strength, and now even _it's_ been surpassed. So this is a Wicked God!_

_I've lived my whole life as Gekko's copy,_ thought Yako. _This Wicked God, this God of copies, is all that Master Pegasus left me. This God card is the key connecting me to my lord! _He raised his arm. "My God card is immune to your mortal virus!" he yelled. "Get a good taste of the power of a Wicked God card!"

"I sacrifice this Engine Part in order to summon Engine Violence!" laughed Bandit Keith. A large engine with shotguns and legs appeared in front of him. (2100/1200) "Then I'll activate the equip spell, Engine Tuner!" he laughed.

A group of tiny goblins appeared, and swarmed over Engine Violence, tightening screws and bolts.

"My little friends boost my Engine up by half of its defence points!" laughed Keith. Engine Violence gleamed as its attack points rose to 2700. "Now wipe this punk outta the way!" yelled Keith. "Attack!" The monster blasted two streams of flame at Richie.

"Go, Grazing Blast!" yelled Richie, and a blast of light blinded the area. "We take damage equal to the attack strength of a monster the opponent controls!" Then I continue with Dazzling Radiance!" he added, as Keith machine tramped across to him. "Now, I take your strongest monster!"

Keith grinned. "Go, Trap Jammer!" he cackled. "Extinguish that little light!"

Richie gasped as the trap vanished.

Keith grinned. "Looks like you're taking the damage, Richie!" he called. Engine Violence blasted Richie, knocking him down to 1300 life points. Richie gasped. _I'm not gonna lose to this sham!_

"I end my turn with a facedown card," said Keith with a grin, slotting the card into his disk with a bit of difficulty.

Richie drew and grinned. "Sorry, old man, but it's time to end this." He slapped a card onto his black duel disk. "I summon Twin Gunfighter!" he called. Richie's monster appeared and twirled its pistols. (1600/1000) "And when this bad guy attacks, he always aims at your chest!" he yelled. "You've got the exact amount of life points left that I need to wipe you out just by attacking that token!" He pointed across the field. "Eat this!" he yelled, and Twin Gunfighter fired.

"Go, Wicked Avatar!" yelled Yako, his right eye bulging. "Attack with Dark Neutron Blast!"

The Wicked Avatar blasted a surge of dark energy from each of its three mouths, engulfing the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and burning it away with a final roar of defiance.

_My Blue-Eyes,_ thought Kaiba sadly.

"No way . . ." gasped Willa. "He defeated the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon?"

Kaiba groaned as his life points dropped to 3999.

Yako grinned. "Now that the Ultimate Dragon is gone, the Wicked Avatar takes on a new form.

The form of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon cast aside, the Wicked Avatar shifted into the form of a draconic armoured spellcaster. (901/901)

"Why you . . .!" snarled Kaiba. "Now you're copying my Lord of Dragons?"

Yako, his eye still bulging, just grinned. "The Lord of Dragons plus one point of attack power."

"Awesome," whispered Willa. _So this is a Wicked God card!, _he thought. _No matter how powerful the monster, that God card can copy it, and make it one point stronger. Just one! And because it's a God card, almost all removal is useless, and anything else will only last one turn at the most._

"My turn," whispered Kaiba, drawing.

Yako watched him through his bulging right eye. _Now that the Wicked God has been released, no one can stop it,_ he thought. _Tremble in fear, Kaiba, darkness is coming. . ._

"I'll summon Material Armadillo in defence mode," said Kaiba, and a golden armadillo with laser embedded in its shell appeared crouching before him. (500/2000)

"Ah, good idea!" cried Willa. _The Wicked Avatar copies the monster on the field with the highest attack power!,_ he thought. _But if a monster's defence is higher than its attack, even the Wicked God card can't take it down! Now the Wicked God can't attack! Yako will need to come up with some other strategy . . ._

But Yako just burst out laughing. "You can't escape the darkness that easily!" he cried, flipping his facedown card. "Reveal trap card, Comparable Level!" he cried. "This card lets me summon monsters from my hand until their total star level equals that of your Armadillo. A total of four stars, although it cost me half my life points." He slid three cards into his disk. "Hourglass of Life!" he called, and a winged hourglass appeared on his left. (700/600) (Level 2) "And two Angel O1's!" he added, and two little angels that resembled Jawa's appeared. (200/300) (Level 1)

"Yeesh, Yako," groaned Willa. "I can't believe he had those wimpy monsters in his hand! But what's he gonna . . .?" he said before realizing just what Yako was going to do.

Kaiba was sweating now. _He's got another three monsters,_ he thought in terror.

Yako laughed, looking up at Kaiba. "Seto Kaiba, I thank you," he said, right eye bulging. "You've just summoned a God card." He drew. "Now fear!" he yelled, holding the card under his eye. "I sacrifice three monsters, and summon the Wicked Dreadroot!" he yelled triumphantly.

Behind him, a gigantic form burst out of the ground. A massive aqua skinned demon with bone edged wings, shoulder, thighs and chest muscles. It had three long claws on each forearm, the middle one pointed as an elbow spike, the other two as wrist spurs, and its massive face, a duplicate of that of Obelisk the Tormentor, was enclosed in a demonic ram skull. (4000/4000)

_It-it can't be!,_ cried Kaiba inside his head, fear shredding his sense of composure.

Willa looked in shock at the demon standing beside the slowly shredding Wicked Avatar. _No, way. Another God card!,_ he thought.

"The Wicked Dreadroot gives its shape to the Wicked Avatar," said Yako. The back smoke twisted into a black demonic giant identical in shape to the one standing beside it. (4001/4001) "Now I have two gods in my power!" yelled Yako as Dreadroot crossed its arms, while Avatar clenched its new fists.

_That's the second Wicked God?, _thought Kaiba in terror. _That thing!_

"My Wicked Gods are the twins of Yugi Muto's Egyptian Gods," explained Yako. "Just as there are three Egyptian God cards, there are three Wicked God cards."

Kaiba gasped. _Then, there's one more Wicked God?, _thought the CEO in terror.

"Not that you need to worry about that," reminded Yako. "After all, you're about to lose!"

"No Richie!" snarled Bandit Keith. "Go, Negate Attack!" he yelled. A tornado reached out and absorbed the blast from the gunfighter.

Richie cursed. "I'll end my turn by placing two cards facedown," he muttered, slotting them into the black duel disk. He grinned. _Well, it doesn't matter_,he thought to himself. _I have Shrink and Saraketsu Armour face-down on my field. He can't touch me,_ he thought.

But Bandit Keith just laughed. "This duel is mine!" he crowed, drawing a card. He grinned. "It's here," he said in delight.

Richie backed up a pace. Keith was grinning wildly, an expression that he'd only seen on Yako's face. Keith smiled.

"I think you'll remember this move," he remarked. "I play Sacrifice of Grave Goods!" he yelled. "I can treat a monster and an equip card as two sacrifices!" he laughed. Then he slammed a card onto his duel disk. "Now I sacrifice my three monsters!" he yelled.

Richie blanched. _He does what?,_ he thought in shock, as a blaze of power glared out from behind Bandit Keith.

"Wicked Dreadroot! Destroy him!" yelled Yako, right eye bulging. Dreadroot charged, and Yako slapped a card from his hand into his disk. "I activate the Power Collapse spell card!" he called. "With this card, just by lowering the attack points of the Dreadroot after it destroys a monster, it can attack all of your monsters at once!" Dreadroot shattered the Lord of Dragons and Material Armadillo with one blow. "Out of the way, weaklings," yelled Yako. He grinned. "Now that Dreadroot has finished attacking, his power returns to normal," he grinned.

Kaiba just stood there, eyes down.

_It's over,_ thought Willa, wondering when he'd started rooting for Kaiba. _He doesn't have any monsters to defend himself with!_

Yako grinned, and his eye bulged. "Seto Kaiba, thanks to you, my R.A. Project will enter its final phase," he said. Now, fly apart into darkness!" he yelled, and the Wicked Avatar charged, slamming its left fist into Kaiba's abdomen. "Dark Fierce Knockdown!" he yelled.

Kaiba just stood there as the Wicked God unleashed Yako's fury upon him.

**Again, was it epic? Please tell me! Please tell me the format you want for Yugi vs. Yako! Yeah, even the most dangerous deck would be wetting themselves against both Avatar **_**and**_** Dreadroot.** **Dreadroot's fear power has no effect on the other Wicked Gods because of how their effects are written.**

**So guys, please rate and review! **


	27. Rebirth of Avatar!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**I'm baaack! Gooooooooooood morning fanfiction! Hey, this is not a test; this is Yu-Gi-Oh! Okay, I'll stop. Don't judge me . . . So; two duels come to their conclusions in this chapter, and we are reunited with some of the other characters. **

**Alright, let go!**

_Rebirth of Avatar!_

Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor dashed through the door to the Duel Ring server room, Kemo and the rest of Industrial Illusions suits behind them. Before the suits could follow, Mokuba Kaiba slammed his fist on the door lock, and it slid shut. He winced as the suits crashed into the door, before turning around.

"Finally," muttered Tristan panting.

"Master Mokuba!" cried Roland from the desk. "You're here! Thank goodness!"

Joey looked up at the massive shining pillar emblazoned with the KaibaCorp logo. "So this is the Duel Ring server, huh?" he asked. He shivered. "Hey," he said, turning to Tristan. "Is it just me, or is it freezing in here?"

"Now that you mention it," muttered Tristan, seeing his breath steam.

"Where's all this heat coming from?" asked Mokuba.

"Uh, Mokuba?" asked Joey. "It's freezing in here!"

Mokuba shook his head. "The Duel Ring server is giving off an abnormal amount of heat!" he explained. "The cooling system can't keep up! Any more of this and it'll overheat!"

One of the older technicians sighed. "The Industrial Illusions people input data for some new cards, and it's been using all its processing power performing strange calculations ever since!"

Mokuba slammed his hand down on a console. "Those jerks! What are they doing with our Duel Ring server?" he yelled.

"That's not all," added the technician. "Since Master Kaiba went up to duel at the apex arena, it's gotten even worse!"

"What?" cried Mokuba. "My big brother is duelling? Don't tell me, with Tenma?"

"What was that?" asked Joey in horror. "Kaiba and Tenma are duelling?"

"I'll set up a video link with the arena right now!" said Mokuba, tapping in some commands at a computer. Then he gasped.

"What is _that_?" asked Tristan in shock.

"Big-big brother!" cried Mokuba.

_Apex arena._

Seto Kaiba screamed as the impact from the Wicked Avatar's fist crashed into him. He gritted his teeth as his life points dropped to zero. _What was that?_, he thought. _It was almost like the impact was real!_ He staggered backwards, watching Yako smirk at him. _Did I just lose to a weak duelist like Tenma?,_ thought Kaiba. _It can't be. That Wicked God card, with its insane power. Was I defeated by _that? He growled with the little strength that he had left, and fell to his knees. _Does this mean that this worthless upstart will win my corporation? Use it for his own purposes?_ He stared into his shadow, remembering Yugi's words on top of the Duel Tower.

"Kaiba! We've been destined to do battle for 3,000 years!"

_I built this building,_ thought Kaiba. _As the first foundation stone to fulfil my and Mokuba's dream. Our dream to build a place where children could go to be happy. Now, all my hopes are being swallowed by the Wicked Gods. What is happening to me?_

Kaiba's shadow began to swirl. From the shadow emerged a black dragon with a three layered crest and a shoe shaped head. It roared in Kaiba's face.

And the CEO of KaibaCorp could do nothing but scream in despair.

Yako walked over to the shaken CEO. "Seto Kaiba," he said. "Since Yugi Muto was unable to reach me, I'm glad I got to duel you. In all the duels that took place in this building, and especially in our duel, which became more than a battle of the God cards. In all of them shone the souls of Master Pegasus's cards!" He smiled, as the Wicked Avatar hovered over him in its orb form. "And now the battle of the Wicked Gods comes to a close. The light of all these cards will become Cecelia Pegasus's avatar and restore her to life!" he called. "Now come! Guinea pig of our experiment! Summon the final Wicked God card, and offer its energy to Cecelia Pegasus's avatar!

_Below_

Richie gasped as a shape began to emerge from the shadows behind Keith. "Wh-what in the . . .?" he asked. "You have a Wicked God card?" He cringed as the beast began to emerge.

"Behold the Wicked Eraser!" bellowed Keith, attacking. The Wicked Eraser fired a stream of power at Twin Gunfighter, shredding it and dropping Richie's life points to zero as he screamed. The creature was horrible – he could make out a sickly pink serpentine body with massive wings and a large beak.

"Hate to break it to ya, Richie Merced!" laughed Bandit Keith. "But I'm the number one card professor!" he yelled.

_Apex_

Yako burst out in laughter, right eye bulging. "Seto Kaiba! Are you watching? Do your hear that? Do you feel that?" he yelled. "The beautiful burning of their souls!"

Kaiba gritted his teeth furiously.

"Right here, right now," snarled Yako. "I summon thee! Rebirth of Avatar!" he roared.

Up above, the Wicked Avatar began to crackle with lightning.

Willa gasped. "The duel over, but the Wicked Avatar's still there?" he gasped. "Has Rebirth of Avatar really started?"

_Duel Ring server control room._

Streams of power surged through the building, and fed into one space.

The fiendish machine that imprisoned Tea Gardner's soulless body crackled with power.

_One floor down._

"Nooo!" cried Mokuba, pounding the console in frustration. "Seto!"

Joey looked up at the server. "The Duel Ring Server's howling," he observed. "Yako must have started something!" He turned to Mokuba furiously. "And what about Yugi?" he said. "Where the heck is he?" he yelled. "Did he actually lose or something?" He shook his head. _No, not Yug',_ he thought. "Mokuba, please!" he yelled. "Find Yugi!"

Mokuba nodded and turned to the console.

_Even farther below._

"No," moaned Yugi pounding on another door. "It won't open. This way's no good either."

_Yugi! Help me!,_ cried a voice.

Yugi grabbed Tea's card. "Tea!" he cried, shifting his disk into duelling mode and putting the card on it.

Tea Gardner appeared in midair, clutching her shoulders.

"Tea! What's wrong?" cried Yugi.

"Yugi, I'm scared!" cried Tea. "There's something rushing into me!" She began to fade. "Yugi, am I going to disappear . . .?" she asked. "Yu. . .gi. . ."

"Tea!" cried Yugi in horror, tears forming in his eyes.

"_Yugi! Where are you?"_ yelled a familiar voice.

_Duel Ring server control room._

"_Joey! I'm here!"_ cried Yugi over the comm.

"Alright!" yelled Joey. "I found him!"

"_Joey!" _cried Yugi. _Tea is. . . Tea is. . .!"_

"Yugi, you moron, this is no time for crying!" yelled Joey. "Yako's started his Project! He beat Kaiba too! Things aren't looking so good."

"_Even Kaiba?"_ asked Yugi in shock.

We've nearly recovered full control of the skyscraper!" called Roland at the behest of one of the technicians. "However, the Duel Ring server won't accept Master Mokuba's control codes!"

"Yako! I'll get you for this!" snarled Mokuba.

"Master Mokuba!" called one of the younger technicians. "All the data in the Duel Ring server is being downloaded to one place!"

"What? Where to?" asked Mokuba, surprised. He pulled up a screen. "Aaaa! Found it!" he called. "It's Tea, and she's on the floor right above us!" he called, looking up at the ceiling.

"All right!" called Joey, as he and Tristan briefly celebrated. "Yugi! We found Tea!" he called over the comm.

"_For real?" _asked Yugi.

"Leave her to us!" said Joey. "You just hurry and get up to the roof where Yako is! I'm opening the way for you now!"

_Back down below._

The door creaked opened before Yugi. His heart leapt as he saw the light beyond the darkened room that he'd been trapped in.

"_There's not a moment to waste!"_ called Joey. _"Get up there and kick Yako's butt!"_

Yugi wiped his eyes and nodded. He turned around. "Gekko!" he called, to where the older Tenma twin was kneeling. "Come on, let's go!"

Gekko sighed. "Yugi. I've already lost. I can't go any further."

"Gekko," said Yugi sadly. "Don't say that. You've got a path right in front of you!" he called. "If you don't keep going, you can't save Yako!" Seeing the unsure look on Gekko's face, he continued. "Think back to when you decided to duel alongside me!" he called. "If you still feel the way you did then, come with me!" he called.

Gekko bit his lip, and stood up. "You're right. I wasn't fighting Yako to determine which one of us was stronger. I wanted to free Yako from the curse of the Wicked Gods."

"Gekko," said Yugi happily. "Let's go!" he called, and they turned, and ran into the light filled doorway.

**This is very short. This is very sho-ort. This is very short. This is very sho-ort. Ah, you gotta love ripping off Flight of the Concords. New Zealanders that you all should have heard of. If you haven't, I'm disappointed.**

**Comparisons! Ra versus Avatar, seeing as Avatar's effect has been officially revealed in this fic. No matter how much attack points that Ra has, Avatar will always have more. But even the Wicked Avatar is vulnerable to Ra's Egyptian God Phoenix.**

**Another chapter should be up soon. With an almost entirely original duel!**

**Review please guys!**


	28. The Summoning of Pegasus!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**This has a duel that wasn't really in the manga. I just couldn't be bothered making up an archetype for this dude. There will also be one original monster in this chapter.**

**This chapter might be a little weird. It's where the original differs from this – Pegasus is alive, and Yako is reviving Cecelia to summon him from hiding.**

**So, here it is. The last of the rapid fire chapters for this set of them. And also the last of Volume Four.**

_The Summoning of Pegasus!_

Yugi and Gekko sprinted down the hallway that had just been revealed to them. As they rounded a corner, a drawling voice rang out.

"No way," said the man, a straw headed fellow wearing a short sleeved shirt over a long sleeved shirt. "I can't believe you losers made it up to this floor."

Yugi growled as the man stepped out from the wall.

"I hadn't heard anything about_ losers_ getting a second chance," remarked the man. "But you're here, and I can't just ignore you!"

Gekko gritted his teeth. _A card professor,_ he thought.

Yugi growled, and the Millennium Puzzle began to glow.

"Out of the way!" roared Yami Yugi. He tried to run past him, but the card professor just grinned, and shot a chain from his duel disk, latching onto Yugi's disk.

"Sorry," said the card professor. "We can keep running if you want, though," he said. He began to run, pulling Yugi with him. "Now let's duel!" he called, shifting hid disk to duelling mode, and drawing his hand.

Yugi growled, but went along with it, drawing his own hand.

"Yugi!" called Gekko, sprinting beside them. "That's Cedar Mill! He's a High-Tech Marionette user!"

Yugi nodded, and turned back to Cedar, who drew his card.

"I summon Gimmick Puppet Egg Head!" laughed Cedar. An orange egg with blond hair and spindly arms appeared. (1600/1200) "Now, once every turn, I can ditch a card, and dish out 800 points of hurt!" laughed Cedar.

Yugi didn't even flinch as the egg slammed into him, dropping him to 3200 life points.

"Next I play Polymerization!" laughed Cedar. "I fuse my Gimmick Puppet Scarecrow (800/2000) with Gimmick Puppet Egg Head in order to create Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty!" An iron scarecrow appeared, and twisted together with Eggbomb to form a blue and gold puppet in the image of a goat horned woman. (2700/2300) "Now when this here maiden is summoned, she deals out 300 points of damage for each Gimmick Puppet in the graveyard!" said Cedar. The puppet clasped its hands together, and blasted a tangle of red strings at Yugi, dropping him to 2300 life points.

"Are you done?" asked Yugi. He'd never heard of these monsters, but he wasn't concerned.

Cedar looked a bit taken aback, and ended his turn.

"My turn!" roared Yugi, sprinting forth and drawing a card. "I send a card from my hand to the graveyard and summon the Tricky from my hand!" he called. (2000/1200) The masked jester appeared, twirling his hands. "Next I play Monster Reborn!" he yelled.

Cedar was surprised. _Is he taking one of my Puppets?_, he wondered.

Then he screamed as a massive red dragon appeared behind Yugi, snaking down the corridor. Its wings were folded, but it continued to hover over the ground. It had rather small arms and two massive mouths on its head. (X000/X000)

"Now I play Card of Sanctity, to draw until I hold six cards!" called Yugi and Cedar did the same. The massive dragon roared as its attack strength went up to 6000. "Then I target the Tricky, and play Rush Recklessly!" he yelled. "Now attack!" he yelled, and the Tricky charged into the puppet, shattering them both. "Now, Slifer the Sky Dragon!" yelled Yugi, and the dragon blasted Cedar with its Thunder Force, sending him flying. Yugi frowned, and placed his hand on Slifer. He gasped – he was touching the Egyptian God monster! Then he focused on the task at hand. _Yako! We're coming!_

_KaibaCorp Apex_

Yako Tenma laughed as Seto Kaiba knelt behind him. "The rebirth has begun!"

Willa Mette could only watch in shock as Yako laughed, and lightning poured from the Wicked Avatar.

"Do you see? Do you hear?" asked Yako. "Seto Kaiba! Each card contains a piece of the creator's soul – including his love for Miss Cecelia! Now that love is shimmering with the power of the duels! Right now, the Duel Ring server is distilling that power, and pouring it into Tea Gardner!" He clenched his fist. "Right now that soul is in chaos! But when it enters a human body, it will regain consciousness and come to life!" He pulled out a card. "And then, this card will be the trigger to bring Miss Cecelia back to life, and summon Master Pegasus!" he cried. He held the carefully painted card in his gloved hands, and raised it high into the sky. "Behold, Kaiba!" he yelled. "The culmination of the R.A. Project! I summon Miss Cecelia!" He placed the card into his duel disk, and then pulled out another card, bearing the image of Maximillion Pegasus. This would determine whether his Master was truly passed on. He slammed it into his disk.

The Wicked Avatar became a vortex, flashing with lightning. Black tendrils reached out and began to form two shapes. One was a beautiful blond woman clad in a blue-purple dress. The other was a silver haired man clad in a wine-red suit.

Cecelia Pegasus and Maximillion Pegasus.

Suddenly, there was a shrill screech. Above, the form of the Wicked Avatar began to collapse in on itself. "Wh-what's happening?" protested Yako. "Why is the Wicked Avatar vanishing?"

'What's going on?" asked Willa. "It's like he's frozen in the middle of summoning!"

"M-master Pegasus!" cried Yako. "Miss Cecelia!" He began to sweat uncontrollably. _Not now! Not when I'm so close!_ Then he heard a whisper escape the lips of Seto Kaiba. He grabbed the CEO's coat lapels, furiously hoisting him up. "Kaiba! You said something! I heard you! What did you say?" Then, he heard a crackling voice coming from the CEO's lapel mike.

"_We did it, big brother!"_ called the voice of Mokuba Kaiba. _"Duel Ring server stopped!"_

Seto Kaiba began to laugh weakly. "You may have created that weird program . . ." he rasped. "But I just put an end to it!"

"You," asked Yako. "How?! Once the program was activated, no one should have been able to stop it from outside!"

Kaiba was sweating too, and his pupils were contracted. "I don't know who it is," he gasped. "But someone's still duelling in this building. I sent a program stop order into the Duel Ring server, by piggy-backing it on the monster data from that duel!" He decided not to mention that the monster that had carried it in had been an Egyptian God card. The CEO grinned. "That program stop order 'virus' seems to have affected your precious Wicked God card as well," he said.

Yako screamed. "You filthy . . .!" he yelled, shoving Kaiba backwards. Still fatigued by the attack from Avatar, Kaiba stumbled on the edge of the arena and toppled off.

"Hey, look out!" yelled Willa, charging forward. He was strong, despite his delicate frame, and caught the CEO just in time.

Yako whirled around to face the Pegasus's. "Master Pegasus," he begged. "Please open your eyes. Miss Cecelia? Please. . . Look . . . at me . . ."

Then, the images of the two began to fade.

"Oh," moaned Yako.

Willa watched, keeping an eye on Kaiba.

"Aaaaaaah," moaned Yako, as the image shredded even further. "Aaaaaaah."

Then the images disappeared.

"AGGGHHH!" screamed Yako in despair. "Master Pegasus!"

"Both Pegasus and the Wicked Avatar disappeared," observed Willa quietly, propping up Kaiba. "Guess the R.A. Project is a failure."

Kaiba managed a small smile at that.

Yako fell to his knees, his coat falling open to reveal the simple black shirt he was wearing underneath, with a heavy sigh. "He said there was still someone duelling in this building?" he asked himself. Then he grinned.

_The vents._

"Ow!" yelled Joey. "Tristan, watch your massive feet!"

"My bad," said Tristan as he crawled down the ventilation duct.

"Man, it's too tight in here," muttered Joey.

"It was this or those Industrial Illusions goons waiting right outside that room," pointed out Tristan. "If we're going up to where Tea is, the ventilation ducts are the only way! So quit whining!"

"Yeah, sure, but, Tristan?" asked Joey. "I'm a little claustrophobic. And I hate the dark."

They continued on for a few minutes until. . .

"Tristan! Again?! You lousy-"

"My bad," said Tristan.

"Dang it," muttered Joey. Then he saw a light from down the shaft, and heard voices coming from it. He crawled down until he'd reached the grate.

"Hey, Joey! Where do you think you're going?! It's this way!" raged Tristan.

"Ah!" cried Joey. "Yugi!" Then he stopped short. He booted the grate down, much to the surprise of Yami Yugi and Gekko, and leaped though the hole, crashing to the ground on his feet, and bending his knees to absorb the impact.

"Joey?!" asked Yugi in surprise.

Joey charged. "Yugi! Step aside!"

"Joey, wait a moment!" protested Yugi, but Joey had charged straight for Gekko and sent him flying into a wall. "Get on your feet, Tenma!" he yelled. "I got plenty more where that came from!"

"Joey, stop!" cried Yugi.

"What, Yugi?" asked Joey. "Don't try to stop me!"

"That's not him!" said Yugi.

"What are you talking about? That's obviously Tenma!" yelled Joey. But Yugi brushed him aside, helping Gekko up, as the Tenma brother wiped his cheek.

"Gekko, are you okay?" asked Yugi.

"Huh? Gekko?" asked Joey.

"This is Yako Tenma's twin brother," explained Yugi. "Gekko Tenma! We fought our way up here together."

"His twin?!" yelled Joey in shock. "Oh man, I totally decked you there too. . . Sorry, man. You've got the same face so I just. . ."

"No," replied Gekko. "I deserve that for my failure.

"No really, I'm really sorry!" cried Joey as Tristan jumped out of the vent.

"What the . . . ?" asked Tristan, glancing at a figure down the corridor. "This is getting really weird.

The figure laughed. "Well, so you finally came outta hiding," he remarked.

"So, you're saying Yako changed after he got the Wicked God cards?" Joey asked Gekko.

"Uh, Joey. . ." whispered Tristan.

"So I thought, if we could take the Wicked Gods away from him," added Gekko.

"Joey, look!" whispered Tristan.

"You mean he might go back to normal?" asked Joey, ignoring Tristan.

The figure laughed. "Joeeeey!" he gurgled. "I haven't felt this good since I first woke up!"

"Okay, I got it!" called Joey. "You guys hurry and go get Yako!"

"Joey!" protested Yugi, who'd spotted the man. "Wait just a . . ."

"What's wrong?" asked Joey. "All of a sudden you're – Tristan!" he yelled, seeing his friend. "You get your butt in gear and go save Tea!" He pushed Yugi and Gekko, who'd also noticed the man, down the hallway.

"You little punk," snarled Keith. "What do you think you're doing, ignoring me?" He lost it. "_Turn and face me, Joey Wheeler!"_ he bellowed. _"Or I'll hit you so hard you'll wake up next year!"_

Joey sighed, and turned to look at the man. "Sheesh, the bit players just won't shut up today." He turned to see Bandit Keith, a black duel disk on his arm, walking towards him. "Oh hey, what a coincidence!" he commented. "If it isn't Bandit Keith, the guy who used to be the American champion – back in the Stone Age!"

"Joey," whispered Keith. "I came back to this world to destroy you."

Joey got serious. "Yugi, let _me_ take care of this. You hurry and go." Yugi looked worried, so Joey continued to reassure him. "Don't worry about me! I'll go help save Tea in just a bit!" He grinned. Look, I already beat this guy once," he said. "I know exactly how this duel is gonna go!"

Yugi smiled. "Beat him, Joey! But don't get careless!"

"You bet!" called Joey.

Yugi turned and ran down the corridor, but Gekko stayed behind.

Bandit Keith grinned. "I never thought it'd feel so good to see the man I hate the most in the entire world!"

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut out of this chapter: Three.**

**Original card created from the monster seen behind the sketch that identifies Cedar Mill.**

**Gimmick Puppet Deceitful Beauty**

**DARK**

**Level 8**

**ATK/2700**

**DEF/2300**

**Machine/Fusion/Effect**

**2 "Gimmick Puppet" monsters.**

**When this card is Fusion summoned, inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each "Gimmick Puppet" monster in your graveyard.**

**In the original, Cedar is never named in the comics. A sketch in Volume Four names him and his deck. As I couldn't be bothered inventing a new set of monsters, I used the Gimmick Puppets.**

**Volume Four is complete! What do you guys want for Yugi vs. Yako?! Tidier version of my version, the manga version, or all six gods summoned one by one. Please tell me! Please review!**


	29. Rematch! Keith vs Joey!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**All right, it's the last volume (though this one is really large in comparison to the previous four.) This means that we are entering the last legs of the fic. I've gotta be honest, I've enjoyed it, and I've garnished a lot more experience from this. Hopefully, after this, I'll finish my other little projects that I have stored away, before moving on to my first fully original Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfiction. I won't be limited to Yu-Gi-Oh!, however, I have ideas for Halo, BIONICLE, and maybe Final Fantasy (but I feel that I would tarnish Final Fantasy should ever I attempt to do a fic on it.)**

**But that's enough of that. I'm focusing on the nearer future: the final duel between Yugi and Yako. Like I've been saying, I want to know what you readers want; my version spruced up; a more game-play correct version of the manga; or all six God cards summoned on by one in a new duel. WARNING!: In the event that no-one tells me about this, I will automatically revert to using the spruced-up version of my depiction of the duel. You have been warned.**

**And finally, to NoviceNovelist, the first person to review this fic. Novice hasn't reviewed for ages, but that's fine with me – he has better things to do than see me ramble in this adaption. In his last review however, he stated he was looking forward to this duel. So, Novice, here it is my depiction of Joey vs. Keith. **

**Note: (Jeez, I haven't done this in a while, have I?) Creative credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Rematch! Keith vs. Joey!_

Gekko walked over to Joey. "Joey," he said, prompting the blonde duelist to turn. Gekko nodded towards Bandit Keith. "Do you see that black duel disk on Keith's arm?" he asked.

Joey nodded.

"That black duel disk is the only one of its kind," explained Gekko. "Only one person is allowed to wear it. The highest ranking member of the Card Professor's Guild!" He narrowed his eyes. "If Keith has that disk, then he's beaten Richie Merced, the former champion." He turned back to Joey. "Be careful!"

"Will do!" replied Joey.

Gekko nodded, and then ran after Yugi to the elevator, which slipped closed.

"Hey, Joey," said Tristan. "Listen. I can't carry Tea by myself, she's heavy."

Joey groaned. "Tristan, I'm gonna tell her you said that. . ."

"Just hurry up and come find us, okay?" said Tristan irritably.

"You got it!" replied Joey.

Tristan slipped past Bandit Keith, though the American was too busy staring down Joey to notice him, and sprinted down the corridor. "Don't you dare lose!" yelled Tristan over his shoulder.

Joey turned back to Bandit Keith. "Heya, Keith!" he grinned. "Long time no see!" He smiled. "So, you're Tenma's flunky now? Whatever happened to the old Keith from Duelist Kingdom, who was the boss of his _own_ gang of stooges?"

Keith snorted. "That Tenma's got nothing to do with this." He shrugged. "Well, I guess that's being unfair. I got shattered by that Egyptian freaks mind powers, and then Tenma went and restored me without asking." Keith grinned. "But hey, I'm here, so who cares how it happened?"

Joey looked at Keith in shock. _Is he saying he got trapped in the Shadow Realm, and came back?_, he thought. _Geez. No wonder he looks so thin._ "For real?" asked Joey.

"But here I am, back to life, and I find out that Pegasus is gone already," Keith muttered. "So tell me, who am I supposed to get revenge on, huh?" He chuckled. "That's the thing about grudges. For someone who's got nothing left to live for, someone like me, grudges give you a reason to live!"

Joey just stared back, realising what Keith was saying.

Keith saw it too. "Yeah, that's right," whispered the card professor. "You and Pegasus ruined me, Joey Wheeler! I came back from the shadows to get payback!" he bellowed. "Now listen! It wasn't easy to get a second chance to destroy you!" He grinned shiftily. "The only reason I could, is that when I was stuck in the shadows, I met Pegasus!"

"No way!" yelled Joey. "So he's seriously been sent to the Shadow Realm?"

Bandit Keith burst out laughing. "You idiot, of course not! I don't remember anything from when I was in the shadows!"

Joey clenched his fists, annoyed at being made a fool out of.

"But get this," said Keith. "Tenma was starved for information about Pegasus! It was the perfect bait!" He spread his arms. "That stupid kid believed anything I told him! And when I told him that Pegasus was attacked by Yugi Muto, you and your buddies were short-listed as sacrifices for the R.A. Project!"

Joey glared angrily at Keith upon hearing this.

Keith laughed a deranged chuckle. "Pretty smart, huh?" he said. "I knew that if I found Yugi, I'd find you right on his tail, just like always!" He clenched his fist. "You see? See all the trouble I went through?" he said in triumph. "You better duel like you mean it!"

Joey lowered his head. "So, what you're saying is, you wanted to duel me, so you made Tenma target Yugi and Tea," he said.

Keith's low chuckle confirmed that.

"For that, you nearly made Tea disappear?" snarled Joey, flaming up and clenching his fist. "Yeah, I'll duel you!" he yelled furiously. "I'll kick you right back to the Shadow Realm if I have to!" he yelled, shifting his disk to duelling mode.

"Man, have I been waiting for this!" yelled Keith, shifting his black duel disk to duelling mode.

"Come on!" yelled Joey. "Let's duel!"

They drew their starting hands, and stared each other down.

"I'll take the first move!" called Joey, drawing. "I summon Panther Warrior in attack mode!" he called, and the purple humanoid panther leapt onto the field, brandishing its sword. (2000/1200) "That's all for now," said Joey. "Bring it on, creep!"

Keith laughed, and drew. "I summon Engine Shell in defence mode!" he called. A monster that looked like a cross between an engine and a unicycle appeared, with two hemispheres attached to spindly arms. (1300/1800)

"What? Is that all?" laughed Joey. "For someone who was talking so big, that monster looks pretty wimpy!"

Keith laughed at that. "I've been waiting a long time to finish you off. It'd be boring if I ended things to quickly! Of course, leaving that Panther Warrior there would be a mistake!" he added.

Joey frowned. _That jerk_, he thought. _He was creepy before, but he's way weirder now. But who cares? This jerk messed with my friends! No way am I letting him get to me!_

_He hasn't changed_, thought Bandit Keith. _All his moves are simple and short sighted. Jeez, I can't believe I ever lost to a guy like this! It drives me crazy!_ He snarled. "I activate the equip spell card, Engine Tuner!" he yelled. "Now my Engine Shell gets a tune-up, increasing its attack power by half of its defence power!" he called. Three goblins in grey overalls swarmed over the Engine Shell, tightening screws and bolts, increasing its attack points to 2200.

Joey laughed. "Looks like the shadows got to you, Keith!" he grinned. "All those attack points don't matter if that little engine of yours is in defence mode!"

"Maybe," replied Keith. "But that's where Engine Tuner comes in!" he laughed. "It only works on monsters in attack mode, so it switches defence mode monsters that receive the tune up to attack mode!"

Joey stopped mid-laugh.

Keith grinned. "Engine Shell attacks!" he called and the monster slammed its hemispheres together to create a cannonball, firing it at Panther Warrior and shattering the monster.

Joey grimaced as his life points went down to 3800. _Ouch_, he thought. _That was weird. It almost twinged a bit._

Keith grinned. "What's wrong Joey? You really are an amateur, ain'tcha?" he laughed.

"Hey, shut it!" yelled Joey. "This 'amateur' kicked your butt last time, remember? Besides, I'm not an amateur!" He drew furiously. "Dang it," he muttered. "I set two cards facedown, and I summon Swordsman of Landstar, in defence mode!" (500/1200) A little warrior fairy in leather appeared, crouching. "I'm done."

"Back to me then!" laughed Bandit Keith, drawing. "I'll play a facedown card too," he said. "Then I'll have Engine Shell attack your defensive monster with Cannon Ball!" he called, and the engine threw its cannonball at the little swordsman.

"Hah!" laughed Joey. "I activate my facedown trap card, Silver Dollar!" he called. "This trap saves a monster with less than 1000 attack points!" A silver coin sprang up and the attack ricocheted off it, shattering the coin.

Keith cursed. "What kind of card is that?" he asked angrily.

"That's called strategy!" laughed Joey. "See, your monster didn't even scratch him!"

Keith cursed again. _That little dweeb thinks he's so smart,_ he thought angrily.

"Get ready!" called Joey. "It's my turn!" He frowned. _I gotta beat that monster fast_, he thought. "I know just what I need!" he called. "I sacrifice Swordsman of Landstar, and summon Divine Knight Ishzark!" he called, and the smaller monster vanished. In its place stood a powerful knight in angelic blue and marble armour lined with gemstones, and carrying a massive white bladed sword. "Now, but Engine Shell down!" yelled Joey, and the Knight cleaved the machine in half and dropped Keith to 3900 life points. "All right!" called Joey. "How does that feel?"

"It feels good," replied Bandit Keith. "Did you forget the Engine Shell leaves a part on the field when it's destroyed?" he said.

"Sorry Keith!" laughed Joey. "But that only works if you can dig it out of the graveyard. Monsters that Ishzark destroys are removed, rather than ending up in the graveyard!"

Keith shrugged. "But that's no such factor for my Engine Tuner spell card!" he said. "This card remains on the field, just waiting for a new machine to tune-up!"

Joey frowned. "Okay! I play one card facedown, and end my turn!" he called.

"I'll begin my turn with Graceful Charity!" called Bandit Keith. "I get three cards, and I discard two!" he called. He grinned. "Check this out! I play Monster Reborn, and use it to bring back Engine Violence!" he called, and a massive hotrod engine with flat feet, and two arms that each bore three barrelled cannons appeared. (2100/1200) Then, the little goblins swarmed over it, tightening the screws and tubes. "The engine tuners go to work on Engine Violence," added Keith. "Now it's even stronger!" The Engine bristled as its attack points went up to 2700.

_Aw, great!_, thought Joey. _He makes no sacrifices, and he gets a monster with 2700 attack points?_

"Engine Violence, attack!" yelled Keith. "Engine Cannon!" The machine blasted a stream of power at Ishzark, shattering the Knight and dropping Joey to 3400 life points. Keith laughed manically. "Blew 'em clean away!" he cackled.

Suddenly, the smoke cleared, revealing a cylindrical object.

"Wh-What the-?" asked Bandit Keith of shock. "What is that thing?"

The smoke faded to reveal the black, steam shrouded form of Time Machine, hovering behind Joey.

"No way! Time Machine/" asked Keith in shock. Then he twigged. "Hey! That's my card! I've been looking for it!" he yelled. "You rotten. . ." he muttered.

"Oh, you mean this bad boy?" asked Joey with a grin. "I used Graverobber on it at Duelist Kingdom, and Pegasus had you dragged off before you could get it back, remember?" he asked. "I figured you wouldn't need it, so I held onto the card!"

"You – you little brat," snarled Keith. "Big deal! All you did is bring back the same Ishzark that Engine Violence crushed! I'll just take him out again!" He relaxed a little. "Man, don't you even know how to use that thing?" he said. "What an amateur!"

"Oh yeah?" said Joey, as Time Machine creaked open behind him.

A massive curved sword emerged from the door – in the hands of a bronzed warrior in orange and silver armour along with a red cape. (2800/1400)

"Check this out!" laughed Joey. "I activated the spell card Take Over! When I summon a monster though special means, I can swap him out for another monster of the same type!" he laughed. "I swapped out Divine Knight Ishzark for Gilford the Lightning!" he yelled, and the massive warrior raised his blade into the sky. Joey grinned. "So! After I win this duel, what will you leave me this time?"

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: Ten. Record.**

**I changed Joey's lines in this one. They make him seem like a dick – in the original, Keith left his deck after fleeing, and Joey nicked the card as he thought that Keith didn't care. He also asks Keith what he should take from him next, and continues to do so in the next chapter. Yeah, that's real protagonist material people.**

**The Engine series were changed from Motor because that's what happened for the only one of the card released, Demonic Motor Omega becoming Fiendish Engine Omega. Viz were so frigging slack, that they kept the names of the other Engines as Motors. They even had a support card for Motors, and then used it on Fiendish Engine Omega. They also called Jonouchi (Joey's Japanese name) Joey a few times. I mean, seriously? Make up your frigging minds already! It's not good, it really isn't.**

**I think that I'm up to 55,000 words now. That's really scary. It's cool though. **

**And finally, please, tell me what you want for Yugi vs. Yako. I've given you guys the default, you can check and see if you like it, but it is ultimately your decision. Of course, people have to find, and review, for this to happen (seriously, I know I sound like I'm attention seeking, but. . .) **

**Please rate and review, guys!**


	30. The Last Wicked God Rises!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**As you can tell from the start of this chapter, it is going to be another big one (not length, boss-ness.) Again, a plea to decide your preference for Yugi vs. Yako. I'm sure I've gone over the options enough times, just state in a review.**

**I need to figure out what to say. . . A short intro always makes me feel sad. **

**Ah, that's right. I'll just be nice and shout out for the stories Yuma's Twin sister, by China Smith, and Jaden's Twin sister, by CosmicKiss. Both really similar stories that are written very well, and the fist is only just starting, and got more reviews in two chapters than I have in total. . . it makes me sad. Nah, don't mind me, just give them a look, but ONLY if you like the dubs, as that is what they are based on. While the GX dub was rather . . . awkward quite a bit, especially in the third season, the ZEXAL dub is being done really well. I can listen to Yuma being an idiot without cringing, unlike in the Japanese where it's just so over the goddamn top. And Shark and Kite (yes, that actually IS how you spell it) still give off more badass than Chazz, (although, never underestimate him.)**

**Wow. I just saw how much that is. Moving right along . . . **

_The Last Wicked God Rises!_

Joey grinned across the field at Bandit Keith. "I used your Time Machine to summon Gilford the Lightning!" he called. "Your Engine Violence is no match for this guy!"

Bandit Keith cursed.

"All right, Keith!" called Joey. "I hope you're prepared to put up something better after this duel!"

"You little brat," snarled Keith. "You're going to take more of my cards?"

Joey laughed. "No, Keith, I'm talking about your accessories!"

"What?" asked Keith.

"That thing on your arm!" called Joey. That black duel disk!"

Keith looked at his disk, surprised.

"You know who that disk would look better on?" asked Joey, grinning. "Me, obviously, right?"

Keith snorted. "Yeah, well laugh while you can, you little amateur," he growled.

Joey calmed down a little. "Yeah, well, back at Duelist Kingdom, I didn't really have tactics. I guess I _was _an amateur back then," he reflected. "But while you were wasting time in the Shadow Realm, I duelled all sorts of duelists, and I've grown!" he said, remembering Mako, Roba, and Odion. Joey looked up with a grin. "You're seeing the new and improved Joey Wheeler!" he called. "And seeing as you lost to me when I was an amateur, there's no way you can beat me now!" he laughed.

Keith snorted. "Tactics?" he said. "What are you talking about, you don't have tactics now!"

Joey almost face fell and started yelling across the field. "I'm gonna rip that duel disk off your defeated arms Keith!" he yelled, but Bandit Keith wasn't paying attention.

_Thaaaat's right, Joey, go ahead, be overconfident. I got nearly nothing else to do this turn. Engine Violence has already battled this turn, so I can't put it in defence mode – not that I could, seeing as it's equipped with Engine Tuner. _He grinned. _Well, it doesn't matter. I've used this trick before, but he'll never see the card I've got squirreled away in my wristband! _He'd slipped the card out as he drew, and hid it so that Joey wouldn't see the extra card number. _And the card up my sleeve is a trap card, Ring of Destruction! This card is brutal, it destroys a monster, and it'll slam both of us with some serious damage!_ He grinned, and selected the trap card. _Open wide, Joey!_, he thought. "Before I end my turn, I'll play one card facedown!" he called, slotting the card into his duel disk.

"My turn then!" yelled Joey.

BEEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP!

The two duelists jumped in surprise as a piercing noise rang out from the black duel disk

"What the-?" asked Keith in shock. He looked at his disk, which had ejected the card. He picked up the card, and pocketed it. _No way, cheat prevention?_, he thought in horror. _It won't take any cards except ones I draw from my deck?_

Joey stared blankly for a few seconds, then caught on. "HEY, HEY, HEY!" he yelled furiously. "You jerk! You just tried to cheat, didn't you?" He grinned at Keith's angry face. "I guess you're pretty nervous seeing how far I've come since Duelist Kingdom!" he grinned. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah, Gilford, turn that heap of junk into scrap!" he called, and the bronzed warrior charged, cleaving through Motor Violence, which dropped two miniature engines.

Keith groaned as his life points dropped to 3800.

Joey grinned. "That's what you get for trying something lame!" he laughed. "Now I play two more cards on the field!" he laughed. _All right!_, he thought. _I've got Roulette Spider and Probability Change on the field! Next turn, I can trigger them, and wipe out his life points! He's got those two little wimpy Engine parts from Engine Violence's effect when I sent it to the scrap-yard, but that won't matter!_ He grinned. "Hey, Keith, if you've gotta cheat already, does that mean you've got no chance?" he asked snidely. "C'mon, surrender, and get outta the way!"

"Did you say surrender?" asked Keith quietly. He clenched his fist. "Surrender, me?" He laughed slowly. "Your win at Duelist Kingdom was a complete fluke, but it looks like it gave you a real ego." He raised his head. "_You're_ telling _me_ to give up?" he bellowed. "Me, the great Bandit Keith, the number one card professor!" He drew furiously. "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you!" He grinned. "I sacrifice an Engine Part and summon Engine Kaiser!" he yelled. (2000/1400) A massive race car engine that made up the body of a clawed robot rose up, and glowed as the Engine Tuners swarmed over it, raising its attack strength to 2700. _Still though, I can't out the other Part in defence mode because that's how they work!_

_I've got you now, Keith!,_ thought Joey. _On my next turn I can wipe out his life points by taking out his Engine Part, and then using my facedown cards!_ He grinned. _I'll finish you off next turn, Keith!_

"But wait, there's more!" laughed Bandit Keith, activating his facedown card. "Go, Card Hexative!" he yelled. "It keeps all facedown cards currently out pinned to the field!" He burst out laughing at the dejected look on Joey's face. "I'll also play my own facedown card and end my turn!"

"Getting all dramatic over a monster like that won't save you, Keith!" called Joey, drawing. "You still won't stop Gilford the Lightning, and he'll eat that thing for breakfast!" The warrior raised his sword, and charged. "Take out the Engine Part!" called Joey, and the warrior cleaved through the little heap of metal. "And since Engine Parts have an attack of zero, you take all the damage!" he added.

Sure enough, Keith was down to 1000 life points. _That lousy little kid! Why'd he have to go and do that?_, he thought angrily. _That's gonna make things hard. _He drew, and sighed in relief. "I'll put this baby down, and call it a turn!" he said, slapping a card onto his disk.

Joey pointed across the field incredulously. "That move was pointless!" he called. "I don't know why you even bothered!" He shrugged. "But ah well," he said, drawing a card. "Go, Gilford, attack Engine Kaiser! Lightning Sword!" he called, and the mighty warrior bisected Engine Kaiser, dropping Keith to 900 life points. Joey shrugged. "At least I shaved some more life points off ya!" he remarked.

Bandit Keith shrugged. "Yeah? So what?" he said, before chuckling. "I win. That was it, right there. You just conceded the game to me, Joey boy."

"Huh?" asked Joey in confusion. "What're you talking about? Your field's completely empty! Look before you say stuff!"

Keith groaned. "You dumb fool," he muttered, activating his facedown card. "Use your eyes and take a good look at this!" he yelled. "The trap card known as Scrap Garage! Now that you've scrapped one of my Engines, I can return every Engine monster in my graveyard to the field!"

Joey blanched as the dulled forms of Engine Kaiser and Engine Violence appeared on the field.

"Not only that, Engine Kaiser left behind another Engine Part!" added Keith, and he gestured to a heap of twisted metal in front of him. "Their attack and defence points are zero, and they've got no special abilities, but still!" he said.

Joey groaned. _He's right. He just got three monsters onto the field in an instant_, he thought.

"There's three of them! And that's what counts!" said Keith triumphantly. "Do you get it? Know what this means?"

Normally, Joey would have guessed that an Egyptian God card was on the way, but Yugi had all of those.

Keith chuckled. "I'm gonna show you something good," he whispered. "A real God card, a Wicked God card!" he said.

Joey gasped.

"My turn!" said Bandit Keith, drawing. "I sacrifice these scrap monsters," he said. A beam of dark light appeared behind him as he slapped a card into his black duel disk.

"And summon the Wicked Eraser!" yelled Keith, cackling as blue fog began to waft out behind him.

Joey's mouth dropped as a colossal form rose up behind Keith, hissing and spitting acid. He saw a sickly pink snake trunk, forked at the end, and an upper torso with a sapphire at the centre of its chest. The shoulders of its rather small arms were gaping mouth-like structures each containing two rubies, and its wings were lined with small spikes. The head of the creature was the most horrifying aspect, with a fiendish face underneath a massive beak, and a sapphire sitting between two blade-like horns. (?/?)

"A W-Wicked God card!" cried Joey in horror.

Keith burst out laughing. "Meet the Wicked Eraser!" he yelled. "It's the same kind of monster as the Egyptian God cards your pal Yugi has!"

Joey swallowed. _So Tenma's Wicked Avatar wasn't the only Wicked God card? There was this thing too!_, he thought. _Aw, great. Last two times I checked, it was God cards two, and Joey Wheeler zero!_

"The Wicked Eraser's attack points are 1000 times the number of cards on your field!" explained Bandit Keith. "That means right now its attack power is 3000!"

"What?" yelped Joey. _That jerk!_, he thought furiously, looking at his helpless set cards. _So that's why he chained my facedown cards!_

"Eat this, Joey boy!" yelled Bandit Keith. The Wicked Eraser opened its beak, and a sucking sound echoed through the room. "Digestive Breath!" yelled Keith, and the Wicked Eraser shot a stream of bubbling cloudy acid at Gilford the Lighting, the backlash causing Joey to cry out in pain as his strongest monster was eaten away.

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: Three. Hmm. He's getting slack.**

**I was going to wait longer to post this, but what the hell. I'm going to be a bastard, and leave you guys hanging for a few weeks. Yes, it's the holidays, and I'm going to my mate's place down south. So, I'll have no way to update. It'll be interesting to see what my inbox looks like when I get back.**

**In the manga, Engine Kaiser is a normal monster, but I changed it so that the removal of Engine Shell wouldn't have any major effects on the rest of the duel. **

**So now, it's Joey versus Eraser. The Wicked Eraser will always hold a bit of a soft spot for me, despite its status as a Wicked God card. It was one of the first extremely powerful cards that I got, getting a tin without even knowing the contents (except for the cover card, of course) and I've kept a spot for it in a deck ever since (including a deck based around it.) Against Slifer, Slifer's Lightning Blast effect doesn't work (I think), as Eraser's attack points can only be changed by its own effect, just because of how it's worded. A Slifer user would eventually trump Eraser, though, as they'd keep their cards rather than put them down for Eraser fodder. But, as you'll see, Eraser would have the last laugh. . .**

**And now, the three Wicked God holders are all revealed. Gekko holding Dreadroot (though he was possessed), Bandit Keith holding Eraser, and Yako holding Avatar. Sweet. Probably not as good as the Yugi, Kaiba, and Marik set (if the fan girls reaction is anything to go by), but what the hell.**

**Please rate and review, guys!**


	31. Joey Strikes Back!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**I'm back! University starts again soon, but I won't let that stop me from uploading these chapters. Joey's struggle against Eraser continues in this chapter and it looks like the only way out of this duel for Joey might be with his life points at zero.**

**A whole week without much Yu-Gi-Oh! exposure drained me. Chapters might be rather slow, or they might not.**

**Nico1302: Thank you. The original manga duel was with only Obelisk, Avatar and Eraser being summoned. A bit anticlimactic, I thought. There were some great twists (like the sacrifice of Eraser, though that wouldn't work in the real game), so I'll try to use as much original material as possible. But you seem to have confidence in me. . .**

**As for the Tenma brothers during Orichalcos, they were probably in the Asian division of Industrial Illusions rather than with Pegasus in America. But I might make something longer than I had originally planned – but I'm finishing this first!**

**Note: Creative credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and to Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Joey Strikes Back!_

Both Joey and Gilford the Lightning screamed as the stream of power from the Wicked Eraser surrounded them. Gilford was eaten away, and Joey screamed as his life points dropped to 3200. _He took out Gilford the Lightning, just like that!_, thought Joey weakly. He glared at the massive pink fiend behind Bandit Keith. _So this is a Wicked God card!, _he thought.His mind raced, as Bandit Keith continued laughing. _The Wicked Eraser. It's like Tenma's Wicked Avatar thing. A monster just as strong as Yugi's Egyptian God cards! I guess that this is what Slifer would look if it ever went bad!_

Bandit Keith was grinned across the field, ecstatic at his triumph. "Now, Gilford might be toast, but you've still got the two facedown cards I chained to your field!" he grinned. "So that puts the Eraser's attack points at 2000!" He smiled at the lack of response from Joey. "Whatsamatter, scared?" he asked. "I thought a God card was no problem for the big bad Joey Wheeler!"

Joey gritted his teeth angrily. _Aw great, now he's making fun of me!_, he thought. _But I'd better focus. Eraser only has 2000 attack points, but as soon as I summon a monster to battle him, his attack points will go up to 3000. And I don't have any cards in my hand that can defeat that thing either! _He growled. _Dang it! What do I do!_ He drew nervously, eyes tightly shut, and peeked at his card. Then he began to laugh. "Sorry, Keith!" he said. "Looks like I already drew a card that can finish off your Wicked God monster!" He slid a card into his disk. "Take this! My Giant Trunade spell card!" he called. A massive hurricane swept across the field, and Eraser shied away from it. "This card takes all spell and trap cards off the field!" he called. "That gives me my cards back, and because there are no more cards on my field, your Wicked God's attack points drop to zero!" He grinned. "Oh yeah! Who's the man?" he crowed, before bursting out in gales of laughter.

Keith cursed. "I activate my Magic Jammer spell card!" he called. "This cancels out your Giant Trunade at the cost of one card from my hand!"

Joey stopped laughing. "Arhh. . ." he groaned. "Aw, no! Giant Trunade! My trump card!"

Keith grinned. "Those two cards are still there, so that means Eraser's power is still at 2000!"

As Joey cursed, Keith craned his neck back to look at the giant monster behind him. _The Wicked Eraser_, he thought irritably. _The stupid thing's supposed to be my servant, but its abilities go up and down based on my opponent_, he mused. _What a lousy monster. Plus, other than this card, I'm using a machine deck! My spell cards like Engine Tuner don't affect it at all! _He gritted his teeth as Joey watched him warily. _That idiot Tenma . . ._

_Industrial Illusions medical bay._

"_Keith Howard," said Yako Tenma, as Keith sat up, shirtless. _

_Keith didn't know how, but he was back! Back where he belonged. Sure, he wasn't all there, and he was far thinner as a result of his entrapment in the Shadows, but he was back. _

"_You were brought back into this world through the power of the Wicked God cards," explained Tenma, his right eye bulging. He reached into his pocket and took out a card. "This, then, is for you," he said, handing him the card. "Keep it with you always as a reminder that you owe your life to the three Wicked God cards."_

_Keith looked at the Wicked Eraser card. A grin slowly spread across his face. "What's the catch?" he asked._

_Yako sat down. "Maximillion Pegasus has disappeared. Whether to another place, or another plane, I do not know. But you were a finalist at the Duelist Kingdom tournament. All I know is that Pegasus was defeated in a duel by Yugi Muto. So tell me, Bandit Keith Howard. What really happened?" _

_Keith was about to snap back that he'd been ejected from the island, and that he didn't know anything, when he realized what Yako had said. _So, Pegasus is gone_, he thought. _That just leaves two targets for me to get my revenge on. Yugi Muto.

And Joey Wheeler_, he thought, looking at the Wicked Eraser again._

_That brat,_ thought Keith irritably. _I hate having to use one of Tenma's monsters!_ Then he laughed, remembering who he was faced. _Why am I so angry? I just want revenge on everything and everybody! And I love it!_ He drew, smiling. "The Wicked God attacks you directly, Joey!" he yelled. Eraser's beak cranked open. "Digestive Breath!" he yelled.

Another blast of liquid energy surged forth from Eraser's beak and smashed into Joey. Joey staggered as his life points dropped to 1200. _What the heck?_, he thought. _That might be a God card, but it's still a hologram! That impact was real!_

Bandit Keith cackled madly. "This duel is mine, Joey boy!" he crowed. "Squirm all you want, but you can't win!"

Joey groaned. _He's way stronger than before_, he thought weakly. _And his strength ain't just from that Wicked God card._

Keith grinned fiendishly at Joey with a dark look on his face.

Joey frowned. _Man, that's just creepy. It's almost like pure hate, or even a grudge? Maybe even like the one's ghost carry!_, he thought, sweating. _Okay, calm down, Joseph. But whatever it is, it ain't normal. _He stared at the card professor angrily. _Still, if he really does have a grudge against me, he should've just showed up at my place and had it out with me there! He didn't have to rig it so that Tea got kidnapped and Kaiba's building got taken over._ Angrily, he clenched his fist. _That slime. As if I'm gonna lose to a jerk like him! _"My turn!" yelled Joey, drawing. "Alright, here goes Monster Reborn!" he called. "I'm helping myself to Engine Violence from your graveyard!" The six-cylinder with legs and cannons appeared in front of Joey.

Keith snapped. "Again," he snarled. "You took my card again! You snot nosed little-"

"That ends my turn!" yelled Joey.

Keith drew. "So what? With another card out, the Wicked Eraser gains 1000 more attack points!" He grinned. "See how much taking my cards helps you now!" he yelled. "Destroy him, Eraser!" he yelled, and the Wicked Eraser, its strength at 3000, blasted a stream of cloudy energy at Engine Violence. "Digestive Breath!" he yelled, as the attack melted Engine Violence.

Joey jumped. "What?" he asked in confusion. "Why'd I take damage? And why didn't I take as much?"

Sure enough, his life points had dropped to 900.

"Oh, I get it!" laughed Joey. "Engine Violence picked up the effect from your Engine Tuner, didn't it?" He grinned triumphantly. "Man, did I luck out!" He checked the field, and smiled. "And that's not all," he added. "Engine Violence left two Engine Parts on my field! And since they aren't cards, Eraser doesn't benefit from them!"

Keith shrugged. "So I gave you the sacrifices to summon a high level monster, huh?" he commented. "But so what? Are you telling me that you've got a monster stronger than Gilford the Lightning in your hand?"

Joey looked him in the eye then faltered. "Nope," he admitted. "Forget my hand, I don't have a monster stronger than Gilford the Lightning in my entire _deck_," he said, drawing. "Well, at least I don't, but maybe you do!" he called, activating a spell card. "Go, Summon Capture!" he called. "Now I get to take a gander at your hand for a monster. C'mon, c'mon, show me your hand!"

Keith growled. "That card's totally overpowered!" he yelled.

Joey shook his head as he headed across the field. "Nope. If you don't have anything for me, or I don't summon it, you get it back, and I lose 1000 points," he said. "It's all or nothing." He peeked at Keith's cards. "Heheheh, you got a lot of nice stuff, don'tcha?" he grinned. "All, right, I'll take this one!" he called, snatching a card from Keith's hand.

Keith lost it. "You little punk!" he snarled, aiming a kick.

"Hey, watch it!" said Joey angrily, dodging with ease, and zipping back to his side of the field. "Okay, I sacrifice the Engine Parts, and summon this guy!" he called. "Fiendish Engine Omega!" (2800/2000) Behind Joey, a massive scarlet set of jet engines rose, forming the body of a robot with bony limbs, and bladed gauntlets. Joey grinned. "And that's not all!" he added. "Thanks to the effect of your Engine Tuner card, it's got an attack power of 3800!" he called. "Even with the boost he gives the Wicked God card, that's more attack power than your Wicked God!" Joey burst out laughing.

Keith just shrugged. "Whatever," he said. "I was just thinking now boring it would be if I won with the Eraser!"

"Keep lip-flappin' all you want!" called Joey. "I'll be busy kicking your butt! Fiendish Engine Omega attacks, with Joey Crusher!" he called, coining the attack name on the spot.

Bandit Keith grinned. "Gotcha."

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: Six. **

**I don't have much to say now. Being back is hard work. Joey named his own attack in the Japanese version of his duel against Yami Marik, and does so here. Keith's right, Summon Capture is overpowered, so I added some conditions.**

**The next chapter is the final one to write. I've written all the others, I just need to tweak them. I won't state my decision; I'll just show and, hopefully, surprise you guys.**

**Please rate and review!**


	32. Death of a God!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**Alright, this is it guys. The last chapter that I have to fully write. Oh, and I know that Fiendish Engine Omega can use its own effect to get stronger (which would have wiped out Keith), but Joey didn't bother to read the effect, he just went for it. That's why Bandit Keith survives in this. And this is another duel where the end is altered – I really couldn't resist!**

**But yeah, this chapter will be weird. I really hope I get it right – get the whole emotional scale and all.**

**not signed in: I'm glad that I can deliver! Likewise, you have no idea how happy these reviews make me. And now that I've seen this review, how can I not finish this?**

**Note: Creative credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and Akira Ito for the story and art.**

_Death of a God!_

_Is this even gonna work?_, thought Joey, as Fiendish Engine Omega charged at the Wicked Eraser, which screamed and sliced at it.

The draconic fiend and the demonic robot clashed in a cacophony of noise, the claws of the Wicked Eraser screeching on Fiendish Engine Omega's hard shell, and the arm blades of Fiendish Engine Omega carving through the Wicked Eraser's neck.

The Wicked Eraser's head floated in midair before landing on the ground with a crash, fading as it fell.

"It got through!" cried Joey in amazement. "All right! I took out the Wicked God card!"

Bandit Keith smiled as his life points hit 100. "Now you've done it," he said.

Behind him, the Wicked Eraser's body hit the ground, and a wave of inky fluid surged from behind Keith and flooded over the field.

"What's this stuff?" yelped a thoroughly creeped out Joey. Then he gasped as his chained cards began to sink into the ooze. Fiendish Engine Omega sunk as well, rapidly sank into the muck.

"Keith!" cried Joey in a mad panic. "What's happening?"

Keith giggled madly and sucked down his breath before looking at Joey. "Guess I forgot to tell you something," he cackled. "See, when the Wicked Eraser goes to the graveyard, it drags all the other cards on the field with it!" He continued to laugh as the remains of the Wicked Eraser vanished into the muck.

Joey growled. "But why?" he asked. _Guess I know why they call it the Eraser_, he thought. _I can't believe it could do this. Must be why he only put the Eraser on his own field. _He groaned, realizing what Keith had done. _This is bad! I can't let him start his turn while I'm defenceless! _"Before I end my turn, I play two cards facedown!" he called.

Suddenly the pool of liquid snaked towards him. Joey screamed in horror as it grabbed at him, coiling around his limbs and holding them down.

Keith laughed, as the fluid snaked around him as well. "Looks like taking the cards wasn't enough for the Eraser," he wheezed. "Is–is it gonna take us along too?" He grinned, and drew a card as the liquid engulfed them.

Joey couldn't see. There was only blackness. He couldn't hear anything. Not the mad cackles of Bandit Keith, not the rustling of his clothes. He couldn't smell anything, either. He looked at where he thought his hand must be. _It's goin' cold_, he thought. _So cold. What happening to me?_

Then, Bandit Keith's voice cut though the darkness. "J-Joey," he wheezed, giggling. "Y-you're feeling what I'm feeling right? The feeling of the shadows of the dark." He giggled at his own words, and slid a spell card into his duel disk, as black as the shadows ensnaring them. "With Two-for-One Repair Job, I banish all other Engines in the grave, to bring back a monster from the grave. Fiendish Engine Omega!"

Joey screamed as the red and white form of Fiendish Engine Omega lurched out of the shadows and lunged towards him. "Go, Skull Dice!" he cried in a panic.

The little fiend popped out, and threw its red die, landing on a four. Fiendish Engine Omega, attack points at 700, carved its blade across Joey's chest. Joey gasped as the impact knocked him to his knees, and his life points hit 200.

_That was too close_, he thought weakly. _He almost got me, but that attack woke me up!_ He could see himself now, and Keith, with the smoke-wreathed form of Fiendish Engine Omega standing behind him, but everything else was blackness. _Somehow_, thought Joey, looking at his hand. _I felt like I was getting swallowed up, sucked down into the darkness. And it felt like I was never gonna be able to come back. _He looked at the staggering form of Bandit Keith. _Keith,_ thought Joey. _He's just like Tenma. They're both possessed by the Wicked God cards!_

Keith wheezed. "Why?" he whispered. "Why won't you lose? I'm gone . . . and you're . . . still . . . here. It's . . . not fair." Then he groaned in pain, and clutched his head, dropping his cards. "Am I gonna . . . disappear again?" he asked. "Down into nothing? Into . . . darkness?" He straightened. "Th-thi-this time . . . Joey . . . Wheeler. Are you gonna hunt me all the way . . . into the depths of the shadows?"

Joey drew, and an Engine Token appeared behind Fiendish Engine Omega. Joey ignored it, looking at the monster that had slain the Wicked Eraser. "Don't be afraid, Keith," he said. "I'm going to save you now." He played his card. "Good old, Pot of Greed!" he called. He drew two cards, knowing Keith wasn't paying attention. "I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick!" he called, and a red egg appeared, cracking open to reveal a tiny black dragon hatchling. (800/500) It breathed out small flames as Joey closed his eyes. "I send my Chick to the graveyard, in order to summon the mighty Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" he yelled, slamming the card into his disk. (2400/2000) Behind him, and mighty dragon both saurian and avian at the same time rose into the air and roared at Keith.

Keith heard the roar, and looked up slowly.

"And lastly, I play my facedown card!" called Joey. "And don't accuse me, this one's all mine! It's my Metalmorph!" he called.

Silver armour formed over the Red-Eyes, raising its strength to 2700 attack points.

"When something powered up by Metalmorph attacks, it gains half the attack strength of the monster that it's battling," said Joey. "Don't you remember?"

Bandit Keith lurched up and screamed. "_Joey Wheeler!_" he bellowed.

"Take this hit, and come to your senses!" yelled Joey, and a ball of energy gathered in the mouth of the Red-Eyes as its strength rose to 4100. "Flash Flare Blast!"

The blast of red lightning tore through Fiendish Engine Omega like tissue paper, and slammed into Keith, throwing him into the wall.

Joey gasped. He could see the wall! The darkness spewed forth from the Wicked Eraser had vanished. "It's over, Keith," said Joey, standing with his Red-Eyes.

Keith gasped as his life points hit zero.

"This wasn't one of those freaky Shadow Games," remarked Joey. "But something's happened. And now the damage is real. Even so, as a duelist, you definitely felt that." He thumbed toward his heart. "That's the proof that you're alive as a duelist!"

Keith, his cards scattered on the ground, grabbed the black duel disk. He unclasped it, and threw it at Joey, who caught it in surprise.

"Not yet," whispered Keith. "One more time," he groaned. "Duel me one more time!" He struggled to get up. "Put on . . . that black duel disk . . ." he whispered.

Joey shook his head. "Nope. Not a chance."

Keith's face went red with rage. "You little . . ." he gasped, clenching his fist, before letting it fall to the ground.

"I'm not gonna duel you when you're like this," said Joey. "Right now, you're like some demon of vengeance. But even _you_ must have been different the first time you picked up a card." He looked at two cards on the ground – Barrel Dragon and the Wicked Eraser. Joey reached out, and tore it in two as quickly as he could. "Back when you duelled just for the fun of it," he whispered. He grinned. "Heh. Man, I can't imagine you ever being like that," he admitted, reaching into his graveyard. "I'm giving this back to you," he said softly. He placed the Time Machine card into Keith's hand, then stood up and walked down the hallway. "Use that card," he said. "Remember how it feels to duel for fun, and then come and find me." He broke into a run, remembering the task at hand. "Face me as a duelist instead of a demon, and I'll duel you anytime you want!"

He didn't see the hand of Keith Howard tighten on the Time Machine card.

**Total Bandit Keith swear words cut from this chapter: None – wait, what?**

**Ah, that feels good. I was really nervous about this chapter, for obvious reasons. Yes, I know that Joey could have destroyed the Token with Red-Eyes Black Chick, but I had my heart set on Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon.**

**Bet those who haven't read R didn't expect Eraser to go down, just like that, eh?**

**The final battle looms! It's the beginning of the end, though there will be no duelling next chapter. Let's see where this takes us! **

**Oh, and yes, it is the Wicked God cards that are making the duels become more real. That is an addition of my own; that I figured could make some sense.**

**Please rate and review!**


	33. The Final Showdown!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**The final battle is about to commence (as you could tell from the chapter title.) Time to polish, polish, polish! **

**One question. Again, for the Yugi vs. Yako duel, but who do you think the Tenma brothers would sound like (for both Japanese and English) because I can't decide. Help me!**

**Ah, bugger, I've run out of stuff to say.**

**Note: Oh, for the love of God, I've said it so many times already! **

_The Final Showdown!_

Tristan Taylor was waiting in the largest lab of the KaibaCorp skyscraper, looking anxiously at the motionless body of Tea Gardner captured in Yako Tenma's fiendish machine, while Mokuba Kaiba was working on the monitors. Tristan heard footsteps, and turned ready to fight, expecting more of Yako's goons.

But instead, his friend Joey Wheeler stepped through the door, grinning all over his face. "Hey, Tristan! There you are!"

"Joey!" called Tristan, "I guess you won the duel then?"

Joey's smile got broader. "Of course!"

Then Tristan saw the black duel disk on Joeys left arm.

"Joey, what's with the disk?" Tristan asked in confusion.

Joey grinned, and raised his arm.

"The possessor of this black duel disk represents the strongest of all the card professors," he explained.

Tristan was even more confused after this explanation, "_You're_ the top card professor? Man, they're just giving those away these days."

"What!" yelled Joey. "Learn some manners for cryin' out loud!"

He turned in disgust, and saw Tea's motionless form sitting in the chair. "Forget about that! Tea's still connected to this thing!" asked Joey. "So she really was too heavy for you to carry, huh?"

Tristan shook his head. "As if!"

"All right! Let's get her outta here!" Joey commented. He checked the devices attached to the machine that Tea was sleeping in and grabbed one of the tubes. He braced himself on the chair, and was about to pull it out when Tristan grabbed his arm.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he yelled.

"Tristan's right, Joey," called Mokuba over the radio from the floor below. "We can't move Tea now. There's an unbreakable link between her and those Wicked God cards that's taken her soul. If that link isn't broken, her soul won't return to her body!"

"What!" cried Joey in shock. "Of all the stupid – you mean she's right here, but we can't save her?"

Mokuba chose his words carefully before speaking.

"There's just one way. Someone needs to defeat the Wicked God cards, and render them powerless. Then we might have a chance of saving her."

"You mean defeat the Wicked God cards?" asked Joey. He looked at Tristan. Joey didn't want to admit it, but the Wicked Gods scared him almost as much as the Egyptian Gods that Yugi held. He remembered destroying the Wicked Eraser in his duel against Bandit Keith, and the subsequent drenching of the field in its curse.

All three would be a nearly unstoppable force – one that only Yugi could resist.

Joey closed his eyes.

_Yugi, man . . . You gotta beat Yako Tenma. If you don't then we'll never see Tea again!_

The elevator doors opened, revealing the final floor of KaibaCorp. Yugi stepped out with Gekko, seeing two figures before him. One was a skinny, spiky-haired youth, standing over the other, who was kneeling in defeat.

"Yako!" cried Yugi.

Yako, his coat fallen open, looked up at Yugi expressionlessly.

Yugi walked over to Kaiba and knelt beside him. "Kaiba, are you all right?" he asked.

The CEO looked up and saw Yugi's worried face. That was enough to snap him back to reality. "Are you actually worried about me?" he asked. "I must really be losing my touch." Then, Kaiba stood up and glared down at his rival.

"I'm fine, but I've just been exposed to the poison of the so-called Wicked God monsters," he said coolly. "I'll assume that not one of these pathetic card professors could prevent your ascent, Yugi. I'm not surprised. After all, the only one that could possibly defeat you is me."

Yugi gave a small smile. _He's as big talking as ever _he thought.

_Yes, _said Yami Yugi. _Kaiba's obviously fine._

Gekko, on the other hand only had eyes for the man sitting casually on the stairs leading to the duel platform. "Yako," he said firmly.

"What are you doing here, Gekko?" asked his twin brother.

"Yako," Gekko replied, trying to keep his words civil and even. "The Rebirth of Avatar Project has failed. Let's end this. It's not what Master Pegasus would want!"

"You're telling me to end the Project?" said Yako madly. "Who do you think you're talking to, Gekko!" He stood up furiously. "Failed? Of course it failed! Because of those two!"

Yugi and Kaiba glared back at Yako, who continued to ramble.

"That's right, Gekko!" taunted Yako. "They did what you couldn't – they stopped me!" He looked disdainfully at his twin. "All you did was what I ordered you to – possessed by the power of the Wicked Gods!" He burst out laughing.

Gekko looked sadly at the ground. "You're right Yako. I lost. I'm powerless. I can't fight you anymore, but _he_ can."

Yugi looked fiercely at Yako, and Yako grinned fiendishly.

Yako laughed. "Not only did he beat you, you've given up! How the 'Perfect Duelist' has fallen."

Gekko sighed. "A 'Perfect Duelist'." He looked up at his twin. "Yes, Master Pegasus called me that. Those two words were once my pride. But over the course of many duels, I realized something. Master Pegasus never meant that I was _the_ Perfect Duelist."

"What?" snarled Yako.

"When we were with Master Pegasus, I did win my duels with you and the other prodigies of Pegasus. By a small margin. But every time we duelled, the difference in our duelling skills decreased. I couldn't help but realize that my opponent were getting stronger." He stared Yako in the eye. "I am 'perfected," said Gekko. "I will never grow."

Yako looked at him in shock.

"I think Master Pegasus must have seen that with his Millennium Eye, that my duelling skills were as high as they would ever be," said Gekko.

Yako gasped. "What are you saying? Gekko!" He grabbed his twins' collar in confusion, but Gekko just continued to talk. "In fact, I think the one he saw potential in, the one he thought would become a first-rate duelist – was you Yako."

Yako stared at his twin in shock. Then, angrily, he shoved him away. "Don't tell me that Gekko! Don't you dare say that to me!"

He took a deep breath and looked at the sky. "Gekko! Do you know how I feel when you say that? You're just like your name! Like a moon given light, from the sun that was Master Pegasus! But I . . . I am the dark side of that moon, crawling blindly through the shadows. So I need some light too . . . And I will get my light. The R.A Project isn't over yet. I still have the vessel, Tea Gardner, for Miss Cecelia's soul. And I have you, Yugi Mutou, the one I hate!"

"When I crush you, Miss Cecelia and Master Pegasus will both return!" he declared.

"Stop this" cried Gekko. "Yugi's innocent! What Keith Howard told you isn't the truth!"

Yakou shook his head. "No, it wasn't. Whoever attacked Pegasus and stole his power was able to do so because Yugi defeated him. He accepted his fate." He stared at his feet. "There's no way someone as powerful as Master Pegasus could have fallen unless he wanted to. It doesn't matter now who actually attacked him."

Yugi stepped forward exchanging places with Yami Yugi as he did so. "Yako, Pegasus and I fought a genuine battle as true duelists," he said gently. "Please, I'll settle your quarrel with me . . . but release Tea. Release my friend. Our duel has nothing to do with her!"

"That's no longer possible," said Yako. "She's one with the Duel Link sever, and with the Wicked Gods. You can't separate her safely." His right eye bulged with the wicked power he possessed. "Do you like it? The divine punishment of the Wicked Gods!"

Kaiba stepped forward. "Don't back down from this Yugi," warned the CEO. "You have to defeat the Wicked God cards to save Tea Gardner."

"But if he loses, it give Yako the energy he needs to complete the Project," protested Gekko in concern.

But Kaiba didn't look worried at all. "Who cares? He just needs to use that energy to devour the Wicked God cards. If you lose to these cheap imitations Yugi, then I won't forgive you."

Yugi smiled at Kaiba.

"Come at me, Yugi!" cried Yako, walking to the far end of the duelling platform. His coat flapping in the breeze, he readied his Duel Disk.

Yugi walked up the stairs, and did the same. "You asked for it, Yako!"

"This is it!" laughed Yako. "The final showdown!"

**In the next chapter, Yugi encounters the Wicked God designed to counter Slifer the Sky Dragon for the first time!**

**This time, I'm using the Viz translation, which is why it sounds better. So, guys, I don't know when the next chapter will be up, for obvious reasons, but I promise you that I haven't forgotten this! Please review!**


	34. Clash of the Gods!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: Duel between Yugi and Yakou**

**Okay, the chapters will be slow. I need to study harder. But I WILL NOT be defeated! I will finish this, and then go off radar for a bit. But I'll treat myself hopefully with something new. **

**So, here is the beginning of the final duel!**

_Clash of the Gods!_

Yami Yugi looked Yako Tenma in the eyes as they drew their starting hands of five cards each. "It's time to duel!" he called. _I'll free Tea with my own two hands, and these cards!_

_You stole Master Pegasus_, thought Yako. _Return him to me!_

Yugi moved first. "Here I go, Yako! I'll start things off!" he called, and he drew his next card. Yako grinned as a challenge. _Bring it, Yugi!_

"My first card is Alpha the Magnet Warrior in defence mode!" called Yugi. (1400/1700)

A gray metallic warrior with a magnet on its head materialized on the field, holding a sword and shield, each with a magnet symbol on them. "And I'll also play a facedown card!" added Yugi, and the image of a card appeared. "That ends my turn!"

"My turn then!" cried Yako, drawing a card. He studied his hand and smiled.

"I'll set up a facedown card as well!" he called, "and summon this monster!" he added.

He placed the card into the arm plate of his disk, and a massive form appeared on his field. The creature was a centauran lion garbed in Roman-esque armour, carrying a mighty lance and a shield. "Beast King Barbaros!" laughed Yako. (3000/1200)

_Did he just summon an eight star monster without sacrificing any monsters?_, thought Yugi in shock.

Yako smirked, and showed Yugi the card. "Barbaros is the greatest of the divine servants of the Gods! An eight star monster that has the power to be summoned without sacrifices! However, in exchange, its attack points become 1900."

The beast's strength shrank considerably down to 1900.

"But even at 1900 attack points, he's still strong enough to defeat your monster, Yugi! Go, Barbaros!" cried Yako. "Strike down his Magnet Warrior! Tornado Shaper!"

The massive beast raised its lance and rammed it though Alpha, throwing it backwards and shattering it. Yugi raised his arms to block the backlash from the solid vision. His monster had been in defence mode, so his life points were safe. Yako grinned fiendishly, but then Yugi raised his head and smiled. Yako was shocked. "What are you smiling about!" he cried.

"Simple," said Yugi. He touched a button on his duel disk. "This."

Yugi's facedown card rose up – Soul Rope.

"I can use Soul Rope to summon one level four monster from my deck at a cost of 1000 life points," called Yugi. He selected the card he wanted and placed onto his duel disk. "I choose my Queen's Knight!" (1500/1600) A red armoured woman appeared on his side of the field. Yako frowned at the sight of the knight but said nothing. He spread his arms, indicating the end of his turn.

Yugi quickly drew his next card, and held up another card. "I summon King's Knight," he stated clearly. A knight in orange armour with a creased face and a blonde beard appeared on the field (1600/1400). "And you know what that means Yako! With the King and Queen in play, I can summon their loyal servant, the Jack's Knight!"

The third knight appeared, blond and garbed in blue armour. (1900/1000)

"What speed!" said Gekko, impressed. "Yugi's already got the three sacrifices that he needs to summon an Egyptian God card!"

Yako snorted. "King, Jack and Queen," he remarked. "The three swordsmen to call down a God card, hmm?" His face hardened. "But not if my Beast King destroys them first!" he said. "If even one of your three swordsmen is lost, you can't summon a God monster on your next turn!"

Yugi just smiled. "Don't fear the God cards, Yako!" he said. "Now Yako, prepare to meet the agent of your defeat!" he roared. "I play Polymerization! This will fuse my three knights into the all powerful Arcana Knight Joker!" The three knights spiralled together, and from the vortex appeared a stronger knight in purple armour. (3800/2500)

Yako blanched. _What?_

"Go, Joker Knight!" called Yugi. "Attack his Beast King Barbaros! Cut it down!"

The monster sliced Yako's Beast King in two, the backlash sending Yako skidding backwards as his life points dropped down to 2100.

'Good move!" said Gekko. "That just put Yugi in the lead!"

Willa whistled at Yugi's monster, while Kaiba thought to himself.

_So, you gave up on summoning an Egyptian God, and left the field to a fusion monster_, thought the CEO. _But Yako's deck is specifically designed to quickly summon the Wicked God monsters. I wonder how long you can hold out with that monste_r.

Yako smiled. "Yugi. I think you said, 'don't fear the God cards'?" he asked. He gave Yugi a shark-like grin. "It's you who should be afraid. Tremble at the pulse of the Wicked Gods! You've just triggered my facedown trap card!" he laughed as the card flipped up. "Level Resistance! This handy little trap is activated when one monster I control is destroyed, and allows me to summon two or more monsters from my deck in defence mode! However, their total star levels must equal that of the destroyed monster, the eight star Beast King Barbaros!"

Yugi gritted his teeth in frustration as Yako searched through his deck. Yakou held up his three cards and placed them on his duel disk.

"First I'll summon Angel01!" (200/300) he declared, and a little hooded, winged figure appeared on the field, followed by a bat winged hound. "The second is Cassimolar! (1000/1200)" added Yako. "And last is Leraje the Lord of Archery! (1800/1600)," and the last monster, a robed figure armed with a bow joined its comrades.

Yugi was amazed. _Yako summoned three monsters in an instant!_, he thought.

Yako drew his card, smiling. "I'm not through with you yet!" he added. "I also get to summon a fourth monster for my normal turn summon!" He slid a card onto his duel disk. "I summon Votis to the field in defence mode!" A reptilian snake demon appeared, horned and armed with a sword. Sparks were crackling around it (1700/1900). "I'll end my turn with a facedown card!" added Yako.

Kaiba cast a critical eye over the field. "Yako's impressive. I can't believe he managed to summon four monsters in such quick succession. And now, if he has a Wicked God card in his hand, we could be seeing it very soon."

Gekko looked up at the field, face lined with worry.

Yugi drew, and slid the card into his duel disk. "My Joker Knight will destroy your Votis!" he added, and Yugi's knight raised its sword, and cleaved through the snake creature.

Yako just smiled. "Is that all you've got? I still have three monsters left."

Yugi just gave him a serious look, and raised his hand. "I'll also play a facedown card," he said evenly. "My turn is over."

Yako burst out in insane laughter as he drew his card.

Gekko groaned. "Yako still has three monsters, and now it's his turn."

Willa cocked his head, intrigued in spite of the situation.

"Prepare to feel the terror of the Wicked Gods, Yugi!" declared Yako. He held up a card. "Accept the sacrifice of your servants!" he cried. The three monsters disappeared in a black whirlwind, as blue fog wafted around their feet. "Consume the sacrifices, and become flesh!" cried Yako slamming the card into his disk. "I summon _the Wicked Eraser_!"

In the fog, a sinuous and deadly shape began to form. Two dark, spike lined wings spread behind the platform. Kaiba, Gekko and Willa backed away in shock as the monsters serpentine form wrapped around the platform and coiled up behind Yako. A head with a massive beak over a fiendish face and two plate-like horns rose up, attached to a triangular torso from which the longer lower body of the beast grew. Its two rather short arms pawed the air as it screeched. (?/?)

Yugi looked at it in shock. "The Wicked . . . Eraser?" he asked.

Yako burst into crazed laugher as his eye bulged. "Yes. It's the antithesis to the almighty Slifer the Sky Dragon, the Wicked Eraser!"

"There-there it is!" gasped Gekko. "The dark God monster brought forth by Yako's spirit."

"So this is the third Wicked God card," said Kaiba. "The Eraser!"

"Let me explain the abilities of my monster," said Yako. "The Eraser gains 1000 attack and defence points for every card on your field! You have your fusion monster, and your facedown card! Two cards in all, putting the Eraser at 2000 attack power currently!"

"But it's still weaker than Arcana Knight Joker," protested Yugi in surprise.

"That will change," smiled Yako. He touched a button on his disk, and activated his facedown card. "I play the De-Fusion spell card!" he cried.

"No!" cried Yugi, as his knight twisted into the three monsters that had made it up.

"Of course they're in defence mode, but with four cards on your field . . ." added Yako. Eraser shrieked as its power grew, ". . . Eraser now has 4000 attack points!"

He pointed at Yugi crazily. "All I need to do is breathe to destroy you!" he screamed. "Wicked Eraser, destroy his Jacks Knight with Digestive Breath!"

The Wicked Eraser opened its beak, and blasted a stream of liquid energy at Jack's Knight, burning through the monster. Yugi cried out against the backlash – he could feel the burning on his own skin!

Yako smiled to himself. _Yugi. Your hopes are melting away . . ._

**Okay, no idea when the next chapter will be up. Note to yourselves that this does not tell you **_**anything**_** about my idea for this duel (again) as all three options would use this same chapter. It's quite spruced up, and I'm proud of it.**

**I'm also going to have Willa speak more, as usually; Gekko and Kaiba do most of the talking in this duel.**

**Please rate and review. I require feedback!**


	35. Speed Summon!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**The Eraser arises! By the way, don't grill for plagiarism me about how this one ends, as far as I'm concerned, the end of this duel already does that. I did intend to wait about a week before posting this chapter, but the urge to update consumed me. Consumed me bro! (plus, I somehow had some free time.)**

**Also, I just feel like talking about awesomeness in Zexal. I'm six foot four, seriously scary (trust me, if you walked by me in the street, talking to me wouldn't be the first thing on your mind), and I don't cry easily, but the ending of episode 64 of Zexal almost brought tears to my eyes. It may be practically copied, but it's doing well. Second – Leviathan Dragon is back! It's in episode 65! And finally, it seems that 4Kids went bankrupt, and someone new is doing the dub of Zexal. So that's gonna be **_**very **_**interesting.**

**Nico 1302: Hey, you're back! Yeah, the whole token business screwed my head over, and I refuse to invent cards for this fic. As you can see I've changed it.**

Yami Yugi looked in shock at the Wicked Eraser that was still smoking from its powerful attack. He hadn't lost a single point, but the creature would just grow stronger no matter what he played.

Kaiba looked intently at the god monster, and then turned to Gekko. "Gekko, is that Yako's third Wicked God?" he asked.

Gekko nodded, "Yes," he replied.

Kaiba just stared the Wicked God down with a strange expression on his face. "The Wicked Eraser," he mused. "Its attack power depends on its opponent's number of cards. For a God, it isn't very self-sufficient." He shook his head in derision. "That beast is a cheap imitation."

Gekko looked in worry at his twin at these words.

Yako slid a card into his disk. "I'll set this card and end with that," he said.

Yugi held his hand over his deck as he assessed the situation. _So this is the Wicked Eraser!_, he thought grimly. _If I play a card, then the Wicked Eraser jump up to 4000 attack points again – and I can't just use defence monsters all the time. I've got to draw a card that can help me! _He swiped the top card off his deck, and looked at it.

"I activate the spell card, Pot of Greed!" he said, slotting the card into his disk. "I draw two more cards!" He quickly grabbed two more cards and looked at them. A small smile crept over his face. _That's more like it. _

"First I activate the effect of the Watapon that I just drew! When I draw it by a cards effect, I can summon it to the field!" A pink monster round monster with two fuzzy ball antennae appeared, and squeaked happily. (200 DEF)

Yako snorted. "Do you think that'll really work, stopping my Wicked God with a defensive wall of monsters?" he asked. "The Wicked Eraser is a being that eraser everything – even other gods! You may think that you can defeat the Eraser, but I'll erase your arrogance instead!"

Yugi hesitated, as he remembered his last duel against a Wicked God.

He'd faced off against Dreadroot, the monster that ruled the field with fear, and had brought back the Winged Dragon of Ra in an attempt to strike it down.

But Yako had negated the summoning with his The Selection trap card, and currently had two face-down cards. Yugi examined the card in his hand. _What should I do!_ Then he had his answer. _Wait . . . special summons . . . that was how I summoned Ra! But this is the normal method, so – yes! This should work even if he does have that trap card!_ He raised his card.

"I offer three sacrifices to the heavens!" he roared.

Lightning flashed in the night sky and barely visible clouds crept over the field as Yugi dropped the card straight down. Like a magnet it slammed into his duel disk, sparking with electricity. Overhead, a snake-like form of spiked red and black formed and began to descend. Coils shimmered into being and tightened around the KaibaCorp building, and a pair of massive wings rose up into the air.

"I summon the dragon god of the sky! Slifer the Sky Dragon!" cried Yugi. (X000/X000)

The head of the dragon became visible for the first time. It had three jaws, all on top of each other, and a blue gem in its spiked forehead. It roared with its lower, larger mouth, blasted wind at its rival with the fury of an imitated beast. In short, The Wicked Eraser's presence was little more than blasphemy to the Egyptian God monster.

Yako gasped. _A second ago, he'd practically lost everything, and now he's summoned an Egyptian God card! _He gritted his teeth. _So this is the duelist who defeated Master Pegasus._

_I knew Yugi could do it_, thought Gekko. _But he's only closed the gap. Yako's still on equal footing with him._

"Slifer gains 1000 attack and defence points for every card in my hand, Yako," said Yugi. "I have three – so my Sky Dragon has a grand total of 3000 points!"

"I know this, Yugi," snarled Yako. "I've beaten Slifer before. I'll do it again."

"Not with that monster you won't," said Yugi. "I only have two cards on the field, so your Eraser only has 2000 attack points. Slifer can wipe it out in one blow!" He pointed at the Wicked Eraser. "Slifer! Attack the Wicked Eraser with your mighty Thunder Force!"

Slifer raised its colossal head and a ball of lightning formed within its jaws. Then it attacked, and a pillar of energy surged forth and blasted towards the Wicked Eraser.

Yako grinned. "I could let your god monster destroy Eraser and suffer the price of its destruction, but then there would be no guarantee that you wouldn't wipe me out next turn. So I'll play my facedown trap card!" The card rose up, showing a tornado picture. "Negate Attack halts your attack and ends the battle!" Whirlwinds erupted from the card and enveloped the lightning column, dissipating it.

Yugi ended his turn with a grimace.

Yako drew cautiously. Then he grinned. _The Wicked Gods have lent their divine power to me! There's no way that I could have gotten all of these by simple luck!_ "I set three facedown cards and, just to be safe, I'll switch the Wicked Eraser into defence mode! That's it for me."

"Then it's my turn!" called Yugi, drawing. "I draw! Slifer's attack power rises!"

Slifer roared as its attack points went up to 4000.

"Slifer attacks!" called Yugi. _His facedown cards can't possibly destroy Slifer. And even if the attack is negated, then it rids the field of that card._

Yako smiled. "I activate the trap card, Yellow Alert! This trap lets me summon a weak monster to shield me when you attack! I summon Tellus the Little Angel!" A small winged creature (500/500) appeared on the field, but was suddenly obliterated by a bolt of blue energy.

"Unfortunately, Slifer's second mouth cuts your monster by 2000 points when it's summoned, Yako!" said Yugi waggling his finger at his opponent. "500 defence points would have never lasted against Slifer."

"Yes, but when Tellus is destroyed, it ends the battle, then leaves its wing behind!"

A small wing appeared, floating serenely (0 ATK/DEF)

"A monster is summoned! Slifer strikes!" reminded Yugi. But Yako grinned and held his ground.

"I activate these three trap cards!" he cried. The three cards flipped up, each identical. "Token Stampede is a special trap that increases the power of a token by 1000 points! Therefore, my token now has 3000 ATK! And your Sky Dragon takes away 2000 points . . . so that means that my Little Wing survives!"

Yugi frowned. _When he activated his trap, I was sure that he'd summon the Wicked Avatar, forcing it to battle Slifer. It would have been no contest . . . Why did he use Tellus as a shield when he has no way of knowing whether he'd draw a Wicked God card?_"I play one card face down on the field! That ends my turn." Slifer's attack points dropped, and Eraser's raised, both equal at 3000. Yako was a bit confused, but shrugged it off.

Yako smirked as he looked at Yugi's thoughtful face. "Do you hear it, Yugi?" he said. "The pulse of the Wicked Gods is getting louder." Yugi looked at him in amazement – did he seriously believe that he could bring out a Wicked God monster on his next turn?

Yakou drew his card and grinned. "I play my own Pot of Greed! Now _I'll_ draw two new cards!" he grinned. Then he slid one of them into his duel disk. "You should remember this move, Yugi," he added as the card appeared on the field. Gekko and Willa gasped in shock, while Yugi and Kaiba grimaced.

The card was none other than Multiply.

"Multiply the one token to three!" laughed Yako.

Everyone looked in shock as the three wings floated around. _To think that he'd get three sacrifices so easily_, thought Kaiba in shock.

But he did, and Yako held up his card. "I offer these wing tokens as a sacrifice!" he screamed. The arena shook, as the two god monsters present snarled at each other. "Bend to my will! Ascend to our fight! I summon the Wicked Dreadroot!" he laughed, his eye bulging.

Amid red blasts of thunder, the creature rose, an aqua coloured giant with three clutched fingers on each hand. Twin bone guards with two spurs jutted from its forearms, and bone framed its massive wings, and ran down its thighs. Its fiendish face was enclosed by a gaping ram skull, the horns twisted and polished. (4000/4000)

**So as you can see, I'll be revising my old adaption, where there were more gods summoned than there were in the manga, where Yako summoned only two, and Yugi only one. That always disappointed me. Of course when trying to properly summon the gods we have to contend with Slifer/Osiris (oh woe betide whoever faces that card). Having said that you all should know how the next chapter will start. **

**The combo for the summoning of Avatar will be the same. Yes, I could probably think up something, but I'm too lazy.**

**Please rate and review!**


	36. The Godspeed Summoning!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**Both the start and end of this chapter have copied moves. So sue me (please don't).**

**I promise you all that I will try and finish this. Despite the hecticness of my studies, I'll find time to update. Ah, bugger, I'm out of stuff to say. **

**I wonder what the new dub of Zexal will be like? Or will it be toned down the same (as 4Kids aren't doing it anymore **_**I think**_**. Not confirmed here.)**

_The Godspeed Summoning!_

Yami Yugi looked in fear at the mighty beast above him. The Wicked Dreadroot's fear power was dominating the field, and only the effects of Slifer and Eraser prevented their attack and defence points from being halved by the effect of Dreadroot.

Kaiba looked at the monster angrily. It had been its presence that had guaranteed his defeat at Yakou's hands, so seeing it there was not welcome. Both Gekko and Willa had experienced that fear of the monster before, and it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"The Wicked Dreadroot," said Kaiba looking at the god monster. "The god that dominates all other monsters with fear, and reigns supreme over the field." Kaiba watched the field. _Yugi could have destroyed Eraser last turn. Why didn't he?_

Yako smiled as he beheld the situation. He had his two God cards as opposed to Yugi's own. Dreadroot was stronger than Slifer but then he realised in horror what Yugi had done . . .

Yugi smiled. "That's right Yako. When you summoned Dreadroot . . . you activated Slifer's special ability!"

Yako gritted his teeth.

Yugi raised his arm. "Go get him Slifer!" he cried. The massive red dragon rose, opening its smaller second mouth, and blue lightning formed within it. "Lightning Blast!" yelled Yugi, and Slifer's lightning tore into Dreadroot, reducing its power by 2000. Dreadroot faltered, but stayed upright.

Yako frowned. _That will only last one turn, but it's saved Yugi for another round!_ "I'll end my turn."

Yugi drew, and both Slifer and Dreadroot roared as their attack points went up to 4000.

He placed a card in his graveyard. "I send this card to the graveyard to summon the Tricky from my hand!" he called. (2000/1200) A jester with a question mark instead of a face appeared, and reeled as Dreadroot's effect cut its defence points in half to 600. "Next I summon Big Shield Gardna in defence mode," added Yugi, and a black haired muscular man holding a massive shield appeared, its poins being cut down to 1300. (100/2600) "That ends my turn," Yugi finished.

Everyone else was in shock. That turn had cut Slifer down to 1000 points, and raised Eraser to 5000.

"What is he thinking?" Willa protested.

"When it comes to Yugi, no-one else really knows," Kaiba explained. _But it that facedown card is what I think it is . . ._

"My turn and I draw!" said Yako. He grinned savagely. "Are you anxious to lose? Let me help you with that." He slid a card into his disk. "First I'll set this facedown card." A card hologram appeared behind the two Wicked Gods. "Now, Wicked Dreadroot, attack his Sky Dragon with Fierce Knockdown!" he screamed. Dreadroot charged, its wrist spurs reaching for Slifer.

Yugi made his move and touched the button on his duel disk. "I reveal my facedown trap card! Mirror Force!" he shouted. "This will negate your attack and destroy all your attacking monsters!"

Yako snarled in anger, as the attack connected with the shield that had appeared and tore apart, lancing towards his god monsters. "Fool!" Yako laughed. "A mere destruction effect can't stop a Wicked God!" The shards shattered upon contact with Dreadroot. I switch Eraser to attack mode!" he called, and the god monster shrieked. "My turn is done."

Yugi drew his next card. _Excellent! This combo will stop Yako in his tracks. Now I'll be able to fight back!_ He held up a card, and placed it onto his disk. "I summon the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!" he called. (1400/1200) The elf swordsman knelt on the field, struggling as Dreadroot's effect sent its defence down to 600. Yugi grinned and placed down another card. "I'll also equip it with the Ring of Magnetism!" he added, and the elf lost another further 500 defence points. "I end my turn."

Willa and Gekko blanched.

"Slifer has no attack points . . ." stammered Willa.

'. . . And Eraser has 6000 attack points," cried Gekkou.

But Kaiba smiled. The CEO knew what was happening.

Yako drew. "You have no facedown cards Yugi! Dreadroot, attack the little elf to get rid of that troublesome Ring! Eraser, prove your might over Slifer, and end this duel! Sate my rage for the disappearance of Master Pegasus and his dream! Digestive Breath and Fierce Knockdown!" he called.

The Wicked Gods both launched their attacks. Dreadroot's fists slammed onto the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and Eraser gathered its power . . . and also attacked Celtic Guardian with its liquid energy beam.

"What!" screamed Yako. _Of course._ _Obnoxious Celtic Guardian defies might and cannot be destroyed by monsters with more than 1900 attack points! And since the Ring of Magnetism was still active, then the Eraser had to attack that Guardian!_ Yako's snarled in fury. "I set this card and end my turn!" he yelled.

Yugi drew, and smiled. I play the spell card Infernal Transaction!" he called. "Now you summon one monster from your graveyard with more than 2000 attack points, and I get a spell card from my graveyard!"

Surprised, Yako summoned Beast King Barbaros, and the massive creature appeared with a roar. (3000/1200) Yugi smiled.

"Of course, Slifer has something to say about that!" he added, and the red dragon unleashed a blast of lightning that smashed into the beast king, and reduced it to 1000 attack points. Then Dreadroot's effect reduced Barbaros to 500 attack points.

"Then I play my spell card that I just recovered, Pot of Greed! I draw two cards!" he called, and smiled at the two cards.

"I offer three sacrifices to the heavens!" he called, holding up the card. Whirlwinds encircled his three monsters, and a storm began to roll in the night sky, and blue light shone down from it. "The unstoppable force of the Egyptian God monster!" called Yugi as the card sat in his disk, glowing with energy. "Obelisk the Tormentor!" (4000/4000)

A form began to make itself visible in the shadows. This massive giant was a blue skinned menace whose giant wings wafted a breeze of destruction across the field. Unlike its counterpart it had no need of bone spurs, instead boasting massive spiked fingers which were currently clenched into fists. It had sets of crests coming out of the top and sides of its skull, and a spike jutting out of its chin. Its red eyes gleamed with the same fury that Slifer's had as it looked at its rivals.

Yako wasn't cowed. "Now Dreadroot's effect activates! Fear Domination!" he yelled. Obelisk faltered, as its 4000 attack points fell to 2000. "And I'll also activate the trap card known as Card of Last Will" he added. The facedown card rose up, showing the gravestone with a hand thrust out of the ground, holding five cards. "This trap activates when the attack points of one of my monsters decreases! It lets me draw until I hold five cards!"

Yugi then pointed at Barbaros.

"Obelisk the Tormentor! Attack with Fist of Fury and crush his Beast King Barbaros!" cried Yugi.

The giant god monster raised its fist, glowing with power, and lunged forward, slamming into Barbaros and shattering it. Yako cried out against the backlash as his life points dropped to 600.

"I end my turn," said Yugi panting.

Yako grimaced at Yugi, and drew a card, topping off his hand. Obelisk roared as its attack points went back to 4000. "I use the effect of this card" he cried, and placed the card into his disk. A humanoid birdlike creature appeared with a screech. "I can summon Alector, Sovereign of Birds from my hand if you control at least two monsters with the same attribute," Yako explained as he pointed at Yugi's two gods. (2400 ATK)

"Take this! Slifer and Dreadroot's effects!" cried Yugi, and the red dragon unleashed another blast of lightning that crippled the stricken monster, which then sagged under the effects of Dreadroot. Its attack points had gone from 2400 to 200 when it had been summoned.

Yako wasn't fazed, instead he smiled. "I play Alector's ability!" added Yako. "It negates the effect of one of your monsters!" The bird blasted winds from its wings at Slifer, and the dragon bellowed as it faltered, its attack points dropping to zero.

"Slifer!" cried Yugi. Yako grinned, selecting another card.

"I play a spell card!" he called. "Photon Veil! Now, I can shuffle three Light attribute monsters into my deck, and then add up to three to my hand as long as they are level four or lower. But if I add more than one, they must have the same name."

He selected the three he wanted, and slipped them into his deck, and then took 3 and added them to his hand. He shuffled his deck and smiled. "I play another spell card, Photon Lead!" he called. "I can summon a level four or lower light attribute monster to the field, and I chose Daybreaker!" A white armoured knight in a red cape appeared. "His ability allows him, when special summoned, to bring out another Daybreaker!" A new knight appeared as well. Yako, breathless raised one more card.

Kaiba gasped as he realised what was coming. _He's gotten three more sacrifices!_

"And now, Yugi, another Wicked God card will manifest itself before you!" criedYako, slamming a card into his Duel Disk. "Look and despair . . ." he grinned as his right eye bulged.

A spot of deepest darkness began to form in midair. Though featureless, all who saw it claimed that it reminded them of the Sphere form of the Winged Dragon of Ra. It expanded slowly out wards until it hovered over the field, a dark sun the size of Yakou's Beast King Barbaros with unknown potential lurking in its depths. (?/?)

". . . as I summon the Wicked Avatar!" laughed Yako.

**Bloody hell this was difficult to rescribble. **

**The combo used to summon the Wicked Avatar was first used by Kite in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal to summon his Number 10: Illumiknight. He also continues with a truly spectacular combo to bring out another Number. **

**Actually, something that I've noticed is a lack of three all powerful cards in Zexal. Yu-Gi-Oh! has the Egyptian God cards, R has the Wicked God cards, GX has the Sacred Beast cards, and 5D's has the Aesir/Nordic God cards. I assume if Zexal has them, they will be Numbers. Hmmm. Sorry, if you think that Zexal is annoying, and my talking about it is.**

**And another intriguing idea, is that of a Yu-Gi-Oh! Dissidia of sorts. It would be interesting. Maybe I'll give it a try.**

**And this time, I didn't exceed the monster zones. Oh, yes!**

**Please review.**


	37. Reign of the Avatar!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: the untold story of the anime.**

**I know that I haven't updated in a while. It's been hectic. It might be a long time before I update again.**

**So we have today, a mix of custom and original awesomeness (at least I ruddy well hope so). **

**The main complexities will vanish, and it'll be more like the original manga duel from the end of the chapter. It'll vary from my first adaption a bit here, just to be a bit more realistic.**

**On with the show.**

_Reign of the Avatar!_

_Duel Ring server, KaibaCorp Building._

Mokuba looked in shock at the screen as the readings twisted around. "The Duel Ring server just started performing all kinds of strange calculations again!" he said in shock, scanning the screen. "That's impossible! My big brother's codes should have stopped all of Tenma's program's!"

He looked up at the server. "Unless some kind of virus was uploaded by the Wicked God cards themselves! Now that it's been played in a duel, I don't think Seto's codes can stop it!"

On the floor above, Tea was still unconscious, the machine imprisoning her glowing brightly and shaking heavily. Tristan looked at the machine in surprise.

"What's happening . . . ?" he wondered.

"Something's wrong with Tea!" yelled Joey. "The machine's starting up again!"

"Tea!" yelled Tristan in shock as her soulless body opened its mouth.

Joey reached out. "Tea, you okay – ack!" he yelped as a spark of electricity zapped him. Joey looked sadly at the machine.

"Man," he sighed. "We're helpless. We can't save her."

_C'mon Yug'_ he thought miserably. _You're the only one who can free her from the Wicked Gods now!_

At the top of the KaibaCorp building Yako had just successfully summoned the Wicked Avatar in attack position. He smirked at Yugi's field, which would intimidate any normal duelist, with two Egyptian God monsters.

His side of the field however contained the three Wicked God monsters, all bloodthirsty for the flesh of their rivals.

"Do you see now, Yugi?" said Yako. "This is my Wicked God – my other spirit! The Wicked Avatar!"

Yami Yugi looked at the massive dark sun, stunned. _This thing was created to oppose the Winged Dragon of Ra, the god monster of the sun!_

Gekko looked up at the monster, grim-faced. _The Wicked Avatar, the accursed God monster that stained Yako's soul black with evil,_ he thought with cold fury.

_So he finally summoned it. The Wicked God that surpasses all other monsters,_ thought Kaiba standing beside him.

Slifer raised its massive head, and fired a blast of lightning, but Avatar simply shrugged it off.

Yako laughed. "Come, Wicked Avatar, metamorphose!" he called.

The black orb began to twist around and change.

"This monster transcends every other monster on the field!" laughed Yako. "Its reign is eternal!"

Yugi nervously watched and gasped in shock as a figure began to form in the black swirling aura of Avatar.

"TEA!" he screamed in horror.

Indeed it was her, a dark version of her form, swirling around in the vortex of the Wicked God.

"It looks as if your precious friend is already being absorbed by the Wicked God," explained Yako.

"Wh-what did you say?" gasped Yugi in horror.

"She will be drunk up, every last drop," said Yako, grinning.

The Wicked Avatar continued to twist and shift, finally taking on a black form of Dreadroot, its attack points skyrocketing to 4001.

"Unless you can topple this Wicked God!" cried Yako.

Yugi gritted his teeth. _You monster, Yako._

Yako burst out laughing. "This is the judgement of the Avatar! Despair to you and those you love!" yelled Yako. "Wicked Avatar, destroy Slifer the Sky Dragon, and end this duel! Punish him!"

Avatar raised its new fists, and charged.

"Dark Fierce Knockdown!" cried Yako.

The monsters fists slammed into Slifer, who threw its coils futilely at Avatar.

"No!" cried Gekko and Willa. Kaiba looked on grimly. _The same combo that defeated me!, _he thought, remembering his defeat at the Avatar's hands.

But when the monsters broke apart, Slifer was unharmed. Yugi smiled, and a card slid out of his graveyard. He held it up and showed it to Yako.

"When I discarded a card to summon the Tricky, it was my Electromagnetic Turtle. I can remove this card to allow my monsters to end a battle at will," he explained. "So my Sky Dragon is unharmed!" he yelled.

Angrily, Yako slipped a card into his disk facedown, and ended his turn.

Below, Willa was sweating. "Yugi barely managed to get out of that one. How is he going to keep this up?" he asked.

Kaiba was worried. _The power of the Wicked Avatar is unspeakable. It takes the attack power of the strongest monster on the field and surpasses it by just one point._ He frowned. _Yugi, can you really stand up to the Wicked Avatar, or will it destroy your Egyptian Gods and scatter the pieces?_

"What's wrong, Yugi?" asked Yako. "For every moment you deliberate, more of Tea's soul is absorbed. So make it fast!"

Yugi gave him a look of fury, and drew his card. _You . . ._, he thought. Then he looked at his card, and smiled. "I play a spell card!" he called. "The powerful Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three cards and then discard two!" He drew two cards, and then as he drew the third card, it glowed so brightly that even the other God monsters had to look away. Yugi smiled, and slid it and another card into his graveyard, leaving him with two cards in his hand.

Yako snorted. "Are you stalling, Yugi? Trying to stay defended for one more turn?" he asked. "You'll never save your friend Tea that way."

Yugi glared at him. "No! On this turn . . ." he stated. "I'll attack the Wicked Gods!"

"What?" asked Gekko and Willa in chorus.

"I activate the spell card, Monster Reborn!" called Yugi. He slotted the card into his Duel Disk, and the mighty crest shone out above him.

Yako drew back in fear. _No_ he thought. _I don't have the Selection facedown!"_

Yugi raised his hand. "I give 1000 of my life points in order to summon forth the almighty Egyptian God Phoenix!" he roared, his life points dropping to 2000.

A blast of flame swarmed forth from Yugi's duel disk, and swirled around him, as the Wicked Erasers attack and defence points became 3000. Kaiba, Gekko and Willa stepped back in shock at the heat of the light. Kaiba's eyes narrowed. _Ra never seemed this powerful when Marik was using it!,_ he thought in shock.

The fire slowly took on a form, a giant fiery bird, rising behind Yugi with an unearthly screech. It hovered behind the mighty serpentine dragon that was Slifer, and the blue skinned giant that was Obelisk the Tormentor.

Yugi pointed at the Wicked Avatar, flanked by the bone wreathed Dreadroot, and the coiled form of the Eraser. "Winged Dragon of Ra destroys that creature with Egyptian God Phoenix!" he roared. The giant phoenix rose up and charged with a howl. The Wicked Avatar bellowed at the Egyptian God, but there was no stopping the God monsters flight.

"No!" roared Yako. "That won't work!"

His facedown card rose up – Shift.

Yugi looked in surprise at the card.

"Watch this, Yugi! This card switches your target!" yelled Yakou. "I choose for your Phoenix to target the Eraser!" he added.

_What?_, thought Yugi in surprise.

"He's turning the Phoenix on his own God card?" asked Kaiba in shock.

The burning form of Ra twisted away from Avatar, and slammed into Eraser.

Flames roared in the night. Eraser screeched in agony as its skin was eaten away, and it burned into black ash that swirled onto the field. Yako cried out in pain as flame surrounded him.

Yami Yugi looked on grimly, but behind him, Yugi turned away. _I know it was necessary_ he thought. _But no-one should have to suffer the wrath of the Egyptian Gods!_ Even Kaiba winced, having seen the effect that Ra had had on Joey in a Shadow Game that had nearly killed the blonde duelist.

The flames died down, and Eraser was gone, but the cloud of black ash remained. The cloud swirled around the field, and began to eat away at the other monsters, scorching the arms of Obelisk and Dreadroot, coiling around Slifer. Ra and Avatar hovered out of the way with slight looks of disgust as the horror below unfolded.

Yugi, Kaiba, Willa and Gekko looked at the carnage in shock, while Yako burst out in gales of mad laughter.

"I told you!" he said. "The Wicked Eraser is the God that erases the other Gods," he commented with a sneer. "When it gets destroyed, it takes every other card on the field with it. Ra and Avatar are higher on the pyramid ranking, so they're unaffected. Erasers powers are useless against them. But the others aren't so lucky . . ." he observed.

Slifer was fighting wildly, refusing to let its counterpart take it down. Obelisk dissolved stoically, its fists clenched. Dreadroot was almost gone, its arms waving in panic.

Then the tornado of ash engulfed them, and spread to the duelists.

Yugi groaned in pain. _I can't see!_

The Millennium Puzzle glowed. Golden energy radiated out from the Puzzle, blasting though the black cloud.

The flames of the Winged Dragon of Ra burnt through the rest. Yugi looked up and gasped in surprise.

Standing behind Yako was a black, bird-like dragon, colossal and powerful, with feather-like wings, and a ring connecting its shoulders. Its attack points flashed in the air: 1.

Kaiba looked on in shock as the two Ra faced off, while Gekko and Willa could barely hold back their astonishment. Yugi ended his turn. There was nothing left he could do. Ra screeched as it returned to his graveyard in a spurt of fire. Avatar shimmered, and morphed into its base form of a dark orb.

Yako smiled. "I've seen all your duels in this building, Yugi," he told his opponent. Ra was the only card in your deck that could stop Avatar, and now that I've gotten rid of it, the Wicked Gods' reign is unstoppable!' he said. "It's my turn. I draw."

He drew his card, and smiled.

"I play Card of Sanctity," he said. "Now we draw until we hold six cards."

They drew, and Yakou smiled, holding up a card.

"I summon Daybreaker!" (1700/0) he called.

A white armoured knight appeared, and Avatar twisted its form into a dark version of the knight, increasing to 1701 attack points. Yako pointed at Yugi, who was scanning the new cards in his hand.

"Daybreaker attacks directly!" yelled Yakou.

But to his shock, a wall of fuzzy brown creatures appeared, absorbing the attack. Down below, Kaiba grimaced – he hated those furballs.

"My thanks for playing your Card of Sanctity, Yakou," commented Yugi. "My Kuriboh can be discarded when I would take damage in battle, and prevent that damage from touching me!"

Yakou snarled. "You can't block this!" he yelled, clenching his fist. "Wicked Avatar, attack!" he screamed. The dark knight raised its sword, and sliced across Yugi's body, causing him to scream in pain as his life points dropped down to 299.

"I set two facedown cards!" called Yako. The two cards appeared in front of him. "That ends my turn."

Quickly Yugi drew his next card. _I can't dodge his attacks forever. If I can't reverse my current situation, then I'll be in trouble and Tea will be gone forever, _he thought grimly as he looked at his card.

_Perfect! I drew what I need to reassess my options._

"I play the Monster Recovery spell card!" he called, and a whirlwind appeared in the air. As he slipped his five cards into his deck he added, "This card allows me to return all the monsters on my field, and every card in my hand to my deck, then draw the same number of cards that were in my hand!"

He drew five cards with a flourish, and examined them.

Below, Gekko was impressed.

"He drew that card at the time where its use would be the most effective!" he commented.

Willa wasn't so joyful. "But Yako said it himself – Yugi doesn't have any monsters that could beat that Wicked God."

Up on the duel platform, Yugi placed three cards facedown, and ended his turn.

"Did I see that right?" asked Gekko. "No monsters out of all those cards?"

Yako smiled. "Relying on facedowns to beat a god? Have you lost it Yugi?" he asked. He drew his card. "My turn." He grinned, right eye bulging. "Yugi! Why don't we throw in a little twist at the end? He placed a card into his duel disk and a circle of red light appeared, smoke rising from it, and a shape forming in the smoke. "I play the Fiend's Sanctuary spell card!" he cried.

Yugi gasped. _The card that Kaiba gave me to beat Marik!_

A token made of reflective beads appeared, and Yugi could see his reflection in the head of the Metal Fiend Token.

Yako gave a smug smile and began to explain. "The Metal Fiend Token reflects my opponent. Now, Yugi, for all intents and purposes, your power is reflected within this Token! And while Avatar takes on the highest attack on the field, well his form on the other is selected based on the highest power in play!"

Sure enough Avatar was warping, shifting into a new form.

Yugi, Kaiba, Willa and Gekko all gasped in shock.

_Wh-what the-?_, thought Yami Yugi in horror.

_The Wicked Avatar is changing_, thought Gekko.

Standing before them, eyes closed was a black form of Yugi Muto. Not the spirit of the Puzzle, but the real human being himself.

Beside it, Yako wore a self satisfied smile.

**Gack.**

**This was so annoying to adapt. I've had to cut out two or three pretty cool monsters from the original duel, which I am kind of annoyed about. At least the gods are out of the picture (ish). **

**Originally I was going to have Yugi use Battle Fader to dodge that direct attack. I hadn't realised at the time that I could do what happened. (I was also going to use Battle Fader again, as of course it would have been returned by Monster Recovery.)The real effect of Fiend's Sanctuary made this hard to adapt, but not too bad – just had to put more monsters out on the field.**

**When Yugi summoned Ra, Yakou was talking about what happened the last time Yugi tried this. He used the Selection to negate the special summon of Ra.**

**I really hope that the god face-off was cool. That was the main reason I altered the duel this much. I wanted something legendary, and I really wanted to give it. It's also quite interesting to see how many fanfiction's that feature Eraser just have it blow up the field, rather than the description I gave. I am not making this up – it actually does the whole ash thing (or at least it does when Yakou sacrifices it in the original manga. It uses its blood when Bandit Keith uses it against Joey, as you saw.)**

**Anyway guys, please do rate and review. **


	38. The Other! God vs Wicked God!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime**

**Like last time, I'm combining two chapters into one, because if I kept them separate, this chapter would have no duelling. **

**Enjoy guys, cause I'm really enjoying adapting/writing this!**

_The Other! God vs. Wicked God!_

Yami Yugi looked in shock as the black form of the Wicked Avatar coalesced into the form of his partner, Yugi Muto himself. "Y-Yugi?" he whispered in shock. "The Wicked God took Yugi's shape . . ."

"Little Yugi has been lost in thought, or felt depressed in defeat and despair," Yako told Yami Yugi. "And it's power is still based off that of Daybreaker!"

Down below, by the Blue-Eyes White Jet, Gekko, Kaiba, and Willa were frozen in surprise at the sight of the new form the god monster had chosen.

"Yugi! Stop!" cried Yami Yugi in horror.

Yako smiled. "It looks like the Wicked God – I mean, Yugi Muto, wants to crush you so bad it can't wait! Prepare to face the wrath of your own Avatar! The wrath of the boy who secretly hates you and your shape!"

Yami Yugi looked shocked. "Yugi . . . hates me?" he whispered.

Yako continued, "You live in his body and you didn't notice? You and Yugi have the same form, but you aren't the same. Which one of you duelled in the final match against Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom, and against Marik Ishtar at Battle City? Which one of you faced off against that runt, Noah, in the Kaiba's virtual world . . . yes," he added at Kaiba and Yami Yugi's gasps of surprise. "I do know about that." He looked at Yami Yugi wrathfully. "It was you who won those titles! Only you! Little Yugi hasn't gained anything, and you've taken everything away from him, even his chances of gaining what you took."

"That's not true!" protested Yami Yugi. "Yugi doesn't feel that way!"

But Yako just continued. "And now you're even going to take Tea away from him. All of this . . . really, can anyone blame him for his anger?!" He burst out laughing at the confused look on Yami Yugi's face. _He's just like me. The title of Perfect Duelist. Master Pegasus's affection and trust. All of that went to Gekko, my duplicate. I hated Gekko, like you must hate him._

"_Yako._"

Surprised, Yako looked at Yugi. The boy seemed smaller, and kinder, but he was glaring angrily across the field.

"I'm not angry at all," he protested. "Because. . ."

In his mind, Yami Yugi listened to Yugi speak.

Yugi looked down. "The Pharaoh broadens my own horizons! It's just not true that I haven't gained anything because of the Pharaoh. I've gained all sorts of important things. I have many important friends today, like Joey, and Tristan, and even Kaiba! And through our duels I met all kinds of people. And that's something I could have never done alone, no matter how hard I wished! The Pharaoh widened these possibilities for me!"

"What?" asked Willa in confusion. Kaiba just sighed.

"He's still spouting that magic and friendship nonsense," muttered the CEO.

"So that Wicked God's wrath isn't mine," finished Yugi. "It's yours Yako!"

Yako clenched his fists. _Yugi, why?_ _You and I are in the same position. I thought you would understand me. _He looked at Yugi. _How can you be okay with it? _Then he chuckled. "You really are dense," he said. "I'm almost jealous." He looked down at Gekko, who whispered his brother's name. "I suppose you're right – there's only one of you physically. You don't have a living, breathing reminder of your failures and weaknesses the way I do." His right eye bulged. "One person or two, I'll defeat you together!" He pointed at Yugi. "Tremble before my Wicked God, the personification of my wrath! Give up and let me defeat you!"

Yugi just looked at him with determination. "If the Wicked Gods are the shape of your wrath, then I'll destroy it and free you!"

He shimmered, and Yami Yugi opened his eyes.

"Bring it on Yako!"

At the foot of the plateau, Kaiba turned to Gekko. "Let me keep up with your history, before now, Yako has been a complete loser with no special playing genius in the past, just originality, correct? And now, he's become a formidable duelist."

Gekko sighed. "I wouldn't have described it quite like that, but yes."

The CEO shrugged of the slight rebuke.

"So why is he so strong now? As far as I see it, Yako obtaining the Wicked Gods was nothing more than the trigger he needed to become powerful. He's even turned his inferiority complex towards you into his own strength."

Gekkou gave Kaiba a look of honest surprise.

"I don't know whether that should make you happy or sad," said Kaiba.

Gekko just looked uncertain.

Back up on the platform Yako smiled.

"Sink into deepest darkness Yugi!" he cried.

"I accept your challenge!" answered Yugi bravely.

Yako raised his hand. "Dayberaker, attack directly!" he called. The knight sped towards Yugi, sword at the ready.

"No!" yelled Yugi revealing a facedown card. "I'm not beaten yet! I activate the Shadow Guardsmen trap card!"

Suddenly, three monsters marched in front of Yugi and fell to their knees. Yugi grinned. "This powerful trap gives me a Guard Token for every monster you control, and you have three!" he called. "Their defence and attack may be zero, but they can shield me from your attack!" he added as Daybreaker cleaved through one of them.

Yako laughed madly. "It's useless! Do you really think you can stop the Wicked Gods, Yugi?!" he called. He flipped up another card, a spell card.

"Behold my Berserker Mode spell card," he yelled. "Now your monsters are all switched into attack mode and they all have to battle! You can't escape it!"

The tokens switched into attack mode.

_Yes!_ thought Yako. "The Wicked God Yugi attacks!" he cried. The black form of Yugi charged forward. "Don't even think of running away from this one, Yugi! You _will_ lose on this turn!"

But Yugi smiled. "Don't worry; I didn't intend to run away from this battle Yako!"

Kaiba jumped. "I know what you're up to, Yugi. "Sorry Gekko. I know you care about your brother, so you won't like to see him defeated in the most humiliating way possible. But unfortunately for Yako, Yugi has a card of incredible power that he took from me!" "You took that card, so use it, Yugi! Use the ultimate power I gave you to defeat the Wicked God!" he yelled loudly.

"I know, Kaiba!" replied Yugi. "I've already prepared for it!" He looked at the set card holograms. "Get ready, Yako!" He touched the button on his disk, and another trap card flipped up. "I play my facedown card, Call of the Haunted!" he cried.

Yako twitched. _He plays what? _

The ground shook, and blue lightning touched town behind Yugi. Smoke rose from the contacts, and wreathed in that smoke rose a mighty blue skinned giant. Its powerful arms held spiked fists, and its wings beat the air as it rose. Fury was in its eyes, as it roared at its foes. (4000/4000)

"Obelisk the Tormentor!" yelled Yugi. "Come forth!"

"So what?" yelled Yako. "My Wicked Avatar still targets your little Guard! And even if you have a God Card," he added as the dark form of Yugi began to change. "My god mimics yours!"

Before their eyes, Avatar began to shift, becoming a mighty black skinned giant. Its powerful arms held spiked fists, and its wings beat the air as it rose, pumping up to 4001 attack points.

"Against the Wicked Avatar, even the power of Obelisk the Tormentor isn't enough!" yelled Yako. "Look well upon the one that surpasses your God card, the Wicked God Obelisk!"

"This won't work!" protested Gekko.

"Yeah, he'd be better off having just left Obelisk in his graveyard," Willa agreed.

Kaiba snorted. "You idiots have been worrying about the Wicked Gods for too long. If you weren't, you would never underestimate the power of an Egyptian God. Even during Yako's turn, Obelisk's true powers can be tapped into."

"That's right!" added Yugi. "By sacrificing two of my monsters, Obelisk's force becomes _infinite_! You can't add to or subtract from infinity! That means Avatar's ability is useless!"

"Fool! You can't beat me like that!" yelled Yako. "The Wicked Avatar's attack power just rose to infinity as well!"

Sure enough, the Wicked Avatar was also at infinite attack points.

"At this point however, judgement is based on the ranking of the divine hierarchy!" cried Yakou. "As the force that is equal to Ra, Obelisk's powers are useless against Avatar!"

Yugi didn't seem worried, turning to Gekko.

"Gekko!" he called. "I'm going to defeat your brother."

Gekko jumped. _The chain of hatred inside Yako . . ._

"Do it Yugi, I beg you!" he cried. "I believe you can stop Yako!"

"It's no use," said Yakou. "The Wicked God Obelisk attacks! Shatter Obelisk"

The dark Obelisk moved quickly towards the real Obelisk, fist rose.

"Yakou!" called Yugi. "Our gods may be at different rankings, but Gekko, your brother, will raise the rank of Obelisk!" he yelled. Yugi touched the button on his disk. "I play my facedown card!"

"Go, Divine Evolution!"

"That's Gekko's card!" cried Yako.

"Yes, and now Obelisk the Tormentor will ascend to a higher level!" explained Yugi.

Obelisk was changing in front of them. Dark blue symbols appeared on its chest, its face became stockier, and its top crest extended below its head spines and became criss-crossed with dark blue lines.

"Obelisk the Progenitor!" roared Yami Yugi.

Yako was speechless. _Impossible_, he thought. "This can't be . . . How did he . . .?" he whispered.

"Yako," said Yugi. "This is it!"

Obelisk raised its hands, and clasped them together, concentrating energy into its form. Then, the mighty Egyptian God monster charged, and the Wicked Avatar, still mimicking the base form of Obelisk, did likewise.

"Fist of Fate!" bellowed Yugi, and a massive explosion lit up the KaibaCorp Tower.

**For those who were wondering, the effect of Divine Evolution is that it increases the attack and defence of one monster by 1000. It also can't be negated, so it works permanently on god monsters. When used on a god monster, it has the side effect of upgrading them on the pyramid ranking of the two sets of three gods. Pretty bloody powerful isn't it?**

**I really enjoyed this writing this chapter. Obelisk's true form, and the form it has on its real card is most certainly badass. **

**The duel heats up next chapter. Whatever I plan to do, a powerful monster is going to come back from the dead – and it's not a god.**

**Rate and Review please guys!**


	39. Mutually Assured Destruction

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**Here it is the beginning of the end. **

**I've (despite the short amount of time I've been writing this) come a long way in terms of writing ability. Surprising, I know. Yes, the anime Multiply only works on monster with less than 500 ATK points, not 1000 as the Little Wing Tokens had. (I've just made it original ATK for this fic though.)**

_Mutually Assured Destruction._

"Fist of Fate!" bellowed Yami Yugi, as Obelisk the Progenitor smashed its clasped fists into those of the Wicked Avatar.

"But it's a draw!" cried Willa.

"They're going to - !" added Gekko breaking off his sentence in shock.

Even Kaiba was nervous now. When Obelisk had clashed with Slifer at Battle City, the effects it had had on his mind had been catastrophic. And the Wicked Avatar was so much stronger!

The building shook violently, as massive explosions of energy erupted from the point where the gods were clashing. A massive blaze of blue energy erupted from the point where the two gods met, and enveloped the KaibaCorp Apex Arena.

Down in the inner sanctum, Mokuba held onto his chair.

"That energy is way too intense!" he yelled. "Is the main server going to hold up?"

As Tristan shielded his eyes, Joey looked at where Tea was imprisoned. Power passed through her body, causing her to shake violently.

"Tea!" he yelled.

Up at the duel platform, the two God monsters continued to project power from their clasped hands. Suddenly, cracks appeared in the hands of Obelisk.

Then, the Wicked Avatar's forearms shattered.

_Obelisk _is, thought Yugi in shock as the forearms of the Egyptian God monster shattered.

_Avatar is crumbling!_, screamed Yako in his head.

The two titans just couldn't take the strain anymore. They shattered, and the forms of Daybreaker and the Metal Fiend Token reflecting Yugi shuddered.

Yako was blinded by white fog. He looked up and saw a silver-haired man in a red suit standing in front of him. _M-Master Pegasus!_

Pegasus turned and began to walk away.

"Please wait, Master Pegasus!" cried Yako. "Why-?"

But Pegasus was gone.

Yako gazed into space. "Why are you leaving me?" he finished as the fog cleared around him.

Yugi and Yami Yugi also saw someone in the fog. Someone they both also cared for deeply.

The image of Tea Gardner hovered before them, smiling warmly.

"Tea," whispered Yugi happily.

"It's okay, Yugi," she said. "I'll be back with you guys before you know it."

Yugi smiled as she disappeared before him. "I know," he said.

The sunlight was shining on the building as the empty field was revealed.

"The God card," whispered Gekko.

"The Wicked God card," added Kaiba.

"They're both gone!" finished Willa.

The clash of the Gods was over.

In the server room, Tea opened her eyes.

"Tea!" cried Joey and Tristan together.

"Just hold, Tea!" called Joey happily. "Wait We'll get this machine of you right away!"

They wrenched out the wires, and pulled off the helmet and gauntlets. The link between Tea and the Wicked Avatar had vanished. She was safe to be moved.

Tea stood up, rubbing her wrists to get the circulation going.

"Thanks you two!" she said with a smile.

"Don't thank us yet," pointed out Joey. "Yugi and Yako are still duelling up on top of the building!"

"Yeah, we'd better get up there and tell him that you're okay!" commented Tristan.

Carefully, they supported her as they moved her away from the wreckage of the chair. When she seemed to be moving fine, they let go and grinned.

"C'mon, let's go find Yugi!" yelled Joey.

Meanwhile, at the top of the building, Kaiba was being filled in over the radio. "Big brother, the Duel Server is operating normally again!" called Mokuba.

"Just as I thought," replied Kaiba. "With the Wicked Avatar gone, its influence on the Duel Ring server has been removed." He looked up at the fallen form of Yako. "And I bet its influence over your brother is gone as well."

Gekko saw his brother's upset face. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the duelist recalled the vision of Pegasus leaving him.

"Yako," said Yami Yugi. "We've been duelling all night. The light of a new day has swallowed the Wicked Avatar just like it swallowed the darkness. It's time you let go."

Yakou's bulging eye returned to normal as he sobbed.

"He's gone. Master Pegasus is gone. It's all over. . ." he said sadly.

"Yako!" yelled Yugi.

Yako looked up miserably.

Yugi pointed at him. "The two God cards struck at each other with maximum power! They were destroyed, but I still have 299 life points left. You have 600! Our duel isn't over yet."

Yako shook his head. "Master Pegasus went into the light. He just left, he never looked back. Even if he were to return this very instant from his hidey-hole, it's too late. There is no more point to this battle. Not anymore."

Then, Yako raised his hand and held it over his deck.

_He's going to surrender!_, thought Yugi in surprise.

"No, Yako! You mustn't end it yet!"

Yako looked at his brother in surprise, as it was indeed Gekko who had shouted. Willa and Kaiba looked a bit surprised as well.

Gekko continued, as a speck appeared in the distance behind him.

"Before you started this duel you told me that I was like a moon showered by Master Pegasus' light," he said. "You said that you thought that if you, the dark side of the moon, did not have the light of Master Pegasus, that you would fail. But that's me that you're talking about. Without Master Pegasus, I'm worthless." He clenched his fists. "But Yako! You're different!" he said. "You can still move forward in the deepest darkness! Master Pegasus never completed the Wicked God cards because you were already strong enough without them! This is a new battle, one that Pegasus won't be waiting for us at the end of. Yako! Someday, when you've become strong enough, you'll find your true form, the one that Master Pegasus saw with his Millennium Eye! And then you won't need the Wicked God cards!"

Yako listened to his twin's words. He slowly rose to his feet, and picked up his two cards. "Yugi . . ." he said timidly. "I'm not going to give up. This duel's still on!"

Yugi smiled. "Yes, Yako!" he called.

"My Wicked God may have defeated, but my turn's not over yet!" said Yako. He played a spell card from his hand. "I play the Level Award spell card!" he called. "This spell allows me to change the level of a token from one to eight until the end of my turn!" he added. "I select eight!"

The token glowed as its level rose.

Yako thought to himself. _Did Pegasus really see my true form in his Eye? If I keep going, will the answer be at the end of the road?_

At the same time, Yugi smiled at Yako.

_Gekko!_, thought Yako. _Did you really mean what you said? _Yako flipped his facedown card. "I play Star Shuffle!" he called." This spell card randomly switches a monster in the graveyard with one that has the same level as one on the field!" He slipped a card out of his graveyard. "Since I only have one level eight monster in my graveyard, that monster is summoned!" he said loudly. He slapped the card into his disk. "I revive Beast King Barbaros!" he yelled. _Yugi, to know that answer, I have to beat you!_

Rising up was a humanoid lion holding a mighty lance and a shield, atop the torso of a black panther. (3000/1200)

"Once again, it doesn't have the restriction it did earlier" said Yako. My monster has its full 3000 attack points!"

Kaiba watched interested. "He did something similar against me," he remarked. "Using level trick tactics to summon multiple monsters. He's already lost his obsession with the Wicked Gods, but it looks he's still a strong duelist."

"My turn's over," said Yako.

Yugi grinned. "Now our battle is a different one. Now that you've lost the Wicked Gods, you've lost the anger and hatred from your obsession. It's not a grudge match anymore. It isn't about wrath or revenge. This duel is now a battle of true duelists!"

Yako was surprised at the praise, while Gekko looked up from below. _Show me how you really fight, Yako._

"Here I go. It's my turn!" yelled Yugi, drawing a card.

**Oh, yeah, stuff just got lighter! **

**No more God cards, just a battle between two powerful duelists. And I'm **_**still not ready to bid the R series farewell.**_** It will take a while, but there is a sequel lurking in the depths of my little mind. **

**Rate and Review please!**


	40. The End of the Battle!

**Yu-Gi-Oh! R: Duel between Yugi and Yakou**

**The final chapter is here. This work comes to an end, but it could still continue.**

**So enjoy the chapter readers, and this will be a lot more coherent. **

**Note, for the final time, creative credit goes to Kazuki Takahashi for the original concept and to Akira Ito for the story and art.**

Yami Yugi stood before Yako and his Beast King Barbaros. Yako had thrice the life points that he did, and both of them were short on cards.

"Yako," said Yugi. "Neither of us can hope for a satisfying duel with the hands we have now. So I'll play this." He held up a card. "The spell card, Card of Sanctity!" he called.

_Huh?_ thought Yakou.

"We'll both draw until we have six cards in our hand!" called Yugi, and they did so, replenishing their hands.

Gekko looked worried. "He's done this despite the fact that Yako has the 3000 attack point Beast King Barbaros. . . Yugi, still . . ." he said.

Yugi slid a card into his disk. "I set one card facedown!" he called, and the card appeared. "And then I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in defence mode!" he added, and a yellow figure composed of spheres and magnets appeared, crossing its arms. (1700/1600) "I end my turn." "Come and hit me with everything you've got!"

Yako drew slowly. "It's my turn. . ." he said uncertainly.

But he was hesitating.

"What's wrong with Yako? He's acting strange." said Gekko.

"Heh," laughed Kaiba. "He thought his Wicked God ,but it was defeated by three mere facedown cards. And now there's one on Yugi's field. That single facedown card is causing him to hesitate to attack!"

"Yako . . ." said Gekko.

Yako was thinking, eyes closed.

"Barbaros," he said. "Attack Beta the Magnet Warrior!" he yelled, opening his eyes.

Barbaros lunged forward, lance extended.

"Tornado Shaper!" cried Yakou.

"Oho," said Kaiba in surprise as Gekkou gasped beside him.

Yugi was smiled. 'It seems your duelist's soul is still burning after all," he remarked.

The lance of Beast King Barbaros lanced towards Beta and – passed right through it.

"Huh?" cried Yako.

Then Big Shield Gardna appeared, crouching in defence mode.

Yugi grinned. "I played my trap card, Soul Barter!" he explained. "Your attack was halted, and I got to trade my monster for one with the same level!"

Yako was dumbfounded. "I'll set two facedowns and I will end my turn," he replied.

"My turn," said Yugi clearly, drawing.

He placed another two cards down. "I play a facedown card on the field, and summon Blockman in defence mode!"

Next to Big Shield Gardna, a warrior made out of Lego blocks appeared, kneeling and holding up its fists. "I end my turn!" called Yugi.

"Yugi's managed to assemble a powerful defence," commented Gekko. "Barbaros may be powerful, but Yako's still having trouble attacking."

"Watch closely!" Kaiba replied. "The tide of the battle is about to turn! Any moment now!"

"It's my turn," said Yako. "Here I come."

"First I activate my facedown spell card, Monster Reincarnation, to return the Wicked Eraser to my hand, at the cost of discarding Machine Lord Ur!"

"No, don't!" cried Yugi, but it was too late.

"Don't worry, it won't be here for long," replied Yako. He held up a card. "I remove Barbaros and Ur to Summon Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur!" (3800 ATK) he yelled.

A massive form appeared on the field. Barbaros had an armoured chest, and cannons in place of its weapons.

"Barbaros Ur is the monster that is closest to the gods!" called Yako, clenching his fist. "It will shatter any and all opposition!"

"Next I sacrifice my Daybreaker to summon Gaap the Divine Soldier!" (2200 ATK)

The knight vanished, and a massive form rose up. It was a fiendish purple warrior with a massive set of arms projecting out like wings.

"With Gaap on the field, all the monsters out are switched into attack mode!" called Yakou.

Blockman and Big Shield Gardna stood up. Yako turned the Eraser card around. "In addition to that, by revealing the God monsters in my hand, I can increase Gaap's attack points by 300 until the end of my turn. Gaap glowed, and rose to 2500 attack points.

Yakou held up another card. "Furthermore, I activate the spell card Double Attack!" he added. "By discarding a card, a monster with a lower level is allowed to attack twice this turn!"

He discarded Eraser, just as he'd promised, and Barbaros Ur roared.

"Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur attacks!" called Yako. "Crag Shot!"

Barbaros Ur raised its cannons and blasted power at Yugi's monsters.

"I activate my facedown card!" yelled Yugi. "Negate Attack!"

The card flipped up, and a whirlwind absorbed the blasts.

Yako frowned. _He only has 299 life points, but he might as well have 299000._

He touched a button on his disk. "I reveal my Mystic Wok, sacrificing Gaap to gain its attack points as life points!" Gaap dissolved, flowing into Yako, and his life points rocketed to 3100.

Yugi drew, announcing his turn as Yako continued to think. _I realize now, even with Barbaros Ur on my side, he's too high above me._

Yugi played a card. "I sacrifice Big Shield Gardna to summon Dark Magician Girl!"

The female spellcaster appeared, waving her staff and striking a pose.

_This is it! He's crossing my monster wall!_,thought Yako. Yugi and Dark Magician Girl stared across the field at Yako.

"Here I come, Yako!" called Yugi. "I sacrifice my Blockman to activate Magical Dimension! By sacrificing one monster, I can destroy another and summon any spellcaster in my hand!" A golden humanoid sarcophagus rose up and opened, revealing a purple robed wizard.

"Arise, Dark Magician!"

The two magicians hovered over the field, Dark Magician wagging his finger at Barbaros Ur, and then they crossed their staffs.

"Now my two magicians can destroy any one monster you control by fighting together!" yelled Yugi. "Dark Burning Magic!"

The two magicians unleashed a wave of power that sliced into Barbaros Ur, tearing it apart.

"Barbaros Ur was defeated!" cried Gekko.

_Humph. Not bad, _thought Kaiba.

"Whoa," gasped Willa.

Yako stood amidst the gale, coat blowing in the breeze.

"Yako," said Yugi. "You were a mighty opponent."

_Yugi, _thought Yako in surprise.

"Dark Magician attacks with Dark Magic Attack!" yelled Yugi.

The purple-robed spellcaster raised his staff and unleashed a blast of power at Yako, dropping his life points to 600. Then, Dark Magician Girl smiled, and waggled her finger at Yako.

"Now, for my last action, Dark Magician Girl attacks!" called Yugi. "Dark Burning!"

Dark Magician Girl unleashed a blast of energy at Yako, who stood there and took the hit. His life points dropped to zero.

_Yugi's power is magnificent,_ Yako thought to himself.

"It's over!" called Yugi.

The duel platform lowered, and the holograms faded away.

Kaiba walked up to Yugi.

"Yugi," he said. "For getting back my Kaiba Corporation Building for me, I thank you"

Yugi grinned. _Kaiba!_

Gekko meanwhile was walking up to his twin. "Yako," he began.

Yako cut him off. "Thank you for making me finish the duel. Had I stopped then, I would have regretted it."

He looked at the card in his hand. The Wicked Avatar. "Losing Master Pegasus may be sad, but I have to cut the cord." He saw himself tear the card into shreds.

"Maybe not so, Yako-boy," said a familiar voice.

The Tenma twins looked around and gasped in shock. Maximillion Pegasus was sitting in an Industrial Illusions helicopter above them.

Yako gaped at his adopted father in shock as he climbed down a rope ladder.

"Master Pegasus. . ." he whispered.

Pegasus smiled. "The cord had to be cut, Yako. You didn't need me all this time, and you don't need me now."

"Where did you go?" asked Yako.

Pegasus's smile faded, and he covered his left eye behind his hair. "I had things to take care of, Yako. Research to be completed. Research so critical that no-one could know that I undertook it. There's something on the wind Yako-boy."

"Before you disappeared," asked Gekko. "You were attacked, weren't you Master Pegasus?"

"Don't tell me," said Yako, before Pegasus could answer. He heard the elevator doors slide open.

"Yugi!" called a voice from the elevator.

Joey and Tristan stood there supporting Tea.

"Tea! Joey! Tristan!" called Yugi in relief.

The Pegasus family watched them. "So that's the source of Yugi's strength," noted Yako.

As the four ran towards each other, Croquet came through the door, assisting Depre Scott and Ritchie Merced.

Tea ran towards Yugi, and stumbled.

Yugi ran to catch, concern on his face.

"Yeah," said Yako with a gentle smile. "I'm glad that I didn't erase those smiles. . ."

_Kirk Dixon saluted as Klamath Osler sheepishly handed over the boy's schoolbags._

_Tilla Mook looked in shock at the black duel disk in her hands. Joey waved as she raised the disk above her head in admiration._

_Ted Banias, Pete Coppermine, and Mendo Cino all watch from behind a corner. _

_Yugi waved to Reiko as she pushed Mrs. Kato's wheelchair._

_Then the Blue-Eyes White jet rocketed over their heads, and Joey angrily shook his fists at it as Tristan dragged him away._

_Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The End. _

**TA-DA! The end of this bit and the official end of Yu-Gi-Oh! R: The untold story of the anime.**

**I hope you guys all enjoyed this, as I enjoyed writing it. Has anyone noticed the opening that I left for the epilogue? Tell me if you do notice, and what you think it means. There was one question never answered for Yako in the manga, and all of you should know what it is. If the epilogue goes ahead, it will be concluded with a one-duel that answers this question, at the start of the Dawn of the Duel arc.**

**And to the reviewers,**

**NoviceNovelist: Thanks for taking the time to tell me where I was going wrong early on. Being complimented like that at such an early stage meant a lot to me.**

**CosmicKiss: I hope that I catered to you nicely! You're awesome. Now that I'm finished, is Hazel up for grabs? Just kidding! Maybe.**

**Twilight Rose Witch: I salute you! Hopefully I did your favourite part the way that you liked it!**

**Guest: See, I finished it!**

**Violet: Thanks for liking this story! Your wish was my command!**

**Nico1302: More chapters that you've had to work your way through! I hope you enjoyed it. And, as you can see, I added back the bit in.**

**Not singed in: I'm glad that I brought closure to your search. I finished!**

**Sanokal.**


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